Resurrecting the Dead
by ToktelasAndTea
Summary: Misaki is gone leaving Akihiko with no choice but to drown himself in misery and drink. But when coaxed into a hotel room by a suspicious character, he expects to find a bandage to heal the wound created of a broken heart. What he does not expect to find is perhaps the medicine that will heal the wound and make his chest whole once more. Not a death fic. MisakiXAkihiko
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Pitiful as it is, I do not own Junjou Romantica. Does it look like I have that much money?**

8 months…

…3 weeks…

…5 days…

…17 hours…

…26 minutes…

..13 second….

The light glinted off the brown glass as he held the bottle up checking for any drops which had somehow escaped his previous scrutiny. The silver haired man sighed in disappointment upon finding the base of the beer bottle to be dry. He sighed again when he turned his head to look at the coffee table which lay to the side of where he was sprawled out on the couch. Though the surface of the glass table was littered will bottles, some big some small, some blue, some green, most brown, none of them actually contained any of the sweet relief he sought. Not that the intoxicating substance actually gave him the relief from the pain that he was striving for, but they help somewhat. He knew that in reality, the pain would always be there, a serrated blade eternally tearing into the lifeless flesh that once had been a warm beating muscle. It took some concentration, something which did not come easily for his intoxicated mind, but if he strained, he could almost remember just what it had felt like to have a heart that pumped life giving blood through his veins, as oppose to the acid that ran there now, an acid which spread to every part of his body, making it burn and cry out in agony.

8 months…

…3 weeks…

…5 days…

…17 hours…

…29 minutes…

..6 second….

His mind wandered, traveling the path of memories, bringing forth images of sparkling green emerald eyes, eyes which had once looked at him with so much tenderness and love. Eyes which had once been so innocent and pure, but now he knew where clouded and lifeless, there owner so cruelly torn from him, despite his most wild cried of protest.

8 months…

…3 weeks…

…5 days…

…17 hours…

…41 minutes…

…and…

He cast his bleary gaze over at the clock hanging above the kitchen counter, a counter pile high with takeout boxes and empty bottles, some which had been there for months, tossed uncaringly to the side, there contents lying untouched. For after all, what was the point?

..58 second….

Yes, he remembered. That's how long it had been since he had last cast his violet eyes upon those unkempt chocolate colored locks. He had been smirking then, his lips curling up into a mischievous smile as he had watched the lithe body of his lover disappear through the door to the apartment. The reason for the smug expression which had decorated his face then had of course been due to the activities he had engaged the teen in just moments before the other had left. He was now thankful he had done so. It had turned out to be the last time he would every touch that velvety skin, the last time he would ever again kiss those gently lips. Some part of him must have sensed what was going to happen, for he remembered being extra enthusiastic the that morning's activities, being sure to touch more than he would usually touch, to kiss deeper than he would usually kiss, to thrust harder than he would usually thrust.

Still, the memories that he had left would never replace the actual person. Slowly a tear formed at the corner of one blood shot eyes, quivering there before falling. Slowly it ran down, traveling past the purple bruise that was now a permanent stain decorating the area below his lid, running over the pale skin that clung tightly to his hollow cheek before reaching the end and falling, only to join its brothers in staining the absorbent fabric of the sofa.

Akihiko lifted the bottle again and peered with unfocused eyes through the brown glass (Or glasses, for currently it looked like he was holding four bottle in four hands), only to come up with the same result as he had the previous six times he had gone through the procedure. This time though, it occurred to him that if he actually wanted any more of the relief giving liquor he was going to have to go out and get it himself, it wasn't going to just magically appear because he had willed it to be there. His throat emitted a dry chuckle. That had almost sounded like something Misaki would have said. He almost called out for the boy to bring some more beer, but stopped, remembering that the whole reason he needed the beverage was that his lover wasn't here in the first place. And that he wasn't ever returning.

8 months…

…3 weeks…

…5 days…

…18 hours…

…4 minutes…

..48 second….

That's how long it had been since he had last seen Misaki, before the helpless boy had been snatched from under his noses by money hungry thieves, intent on trading the life of one innocent teen for millions of yen. Of course Usami had provided the demanded amount without protest, desperate to have his lover back in his arms, the one place where he knew the younger one would be safe. Of only he hadn't been so naïve. If only he had demanded some form of assurance that they would actually complete their part in the deal. And he had thought that Misaki was the naive one. Why he hadn't questioned the bastard but had instead trusted in there morality he would never know. But he had, and his lack of foresight had been Misaki's, and was now his, undoing.

The bottle he had been grasping loosely in his limp hand went flying towards the wall, exploding in a shower of razor sharp glass shard. He hated the brutes, but even more, he hated himself. He had gone to the drop off spot, and left the desired amount of money, naively going back to his apartment to wait for the bastards to return his lover. In a sense, they had returns the teen, or at least part of him. Akihiko looked over at the coffee table as he shrugged on his coat and tied his expensive leather shoes. Every surface of the table was littered with trash, every surface except one. Directly in the center lay a jar, filled with formaldehyde, preserving the only piece of his lover he had left. A green which had once been so full of life, like the green you see if you gaze up under a canopy of trees to veiw the sunlight filter through the ever shifting leaves, that green was now gone, only to be replaced with a cold, lifeless green, clouded like the surface of a jade ornament. Only, jade too could take on a life of its own if worn long enough. The clouded green of the eyes that stared back at him from inside the jar would never return to life. For that was the sad truth. Instead of waking up that morning and being reunited with his cute little lover, he had opened the front door to find a small cardboard box. He had brought the thing to the dining room table and had torn open the cardboard in frustration, only to find another smaller box nestled inside, surrounded by numerous ice packs. Seeing the seemingly harmless white box, his own blood had turned to ice, giving him a chill that had only multiplied tenfold when he had torn off the Styrofoam lid to find the bloody eyeball lying innocently upon a bed of ice cubes. That moment marked to start of the crippling pain which now resonated through every fiber of his being as he shut the door behind him and went off to find a bar, preferable a place where they wouldn't ask questions and would just give him the strongest drink they had. Anything to numb the excruciating ache.


	2. Chapter 2

** I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to make anyone cry with my last chapter. I blame it on all the Anne Rice I've been reading recently. Not my fault so please don't kill me.**

**Disclaimer: Stiiiiiiiiiiiiiiill nooooooooooooooooot miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!1**

The bar was high class, and at one point he would have care about that fact, but not anymore. Now he only went there because it was conveniently close, and he didn't run the risk of the alcohol's effect on his brain lessening any on the journey there.

He has been to this bar many times in the last eight months. It has become a routine now, to come here and sit in this dark corner once his alcohol supply at the apartment has run out, and to remain there until the bar inevitable closed in the early hours of the morning, where upon he would stagger down to the 24 hour corner store and purchase some more of the mind numbing liquid.

He set his empty glass down hard on the stone surface of the counter, and looked up, about to order another drink, when his violet eyes met with another icy blue pair. Another pair which belonged to a man sitting directly in front of him, and gazing intently at his haggard features. The two sat like that for a while before Akihiko finally gave a grunt of acknowledgement to the man before turning away, focusing entirely on the bar tender, intent on ordering his next drink. As if on cue the stranger's lips widened into a toothy smile, and he spoke for the first time since sitting down.

"Here sir, let me get that for you." His voice was cheerful; delicious and pleasing to the ear, yet for some reason it sent an unpleasant shiver down Akihiko's spin. He shrugged it off as nothing important. The man was ordering him a drink, after all, how bad could he be? It took Usami a few moments to register that the man had resumed talking.

"-ows what he want in life."

"Pardon?" Akihiko managed to contain the slur in his voice just enough to allow the stranger to understand him.

"I said, you look like a man who knows what he wants in life."

"Sure, too bad I don't always get it." Akihiko's respond was laced with sarcasm and slurred so much it was almost incomprehensible, but for some reason the other man only smiled wider, giving him a startling resemblance to a wolf who had just found out that the pasture with the sheep had no fence.

"Ah sir, but I can give you what you want. I can give you a night dedicated entirely to you. You look like a man drinking in order to forget. Why don't you let me help you get rid of those unpleasant memories, just for the night?" Akihiko cocked an eyebrow at the man. In his drunken state, he found himself intrigued, in spite of the warning signals currently being sent to his intoxicated brain.

"Oh? And what could you possible offer me that would make me feel better?" Akihiko found that he actually had to force himself to focus. The charismatic aura surrounding this man was drawing him in, and he had to stop himself from agreeing before even knowing what he was agreeing on. Instead he squinted at the man, trying in vain to read his expression.

"Why I can offer you a night dedicated entirely to chattering to your need. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but…you bat for the other team, am I right?" Usami only grunted in conformation, still looking at the stranger with suspicion. "Oh, that's perfect. I do have an eye for this, don't I?"

"Who are you, and what do you want?" The silver haired male was in no mood for anymore of this idle chit chat, he wanted nothing more than for the stranger to get to the point and leave already. Or better yet, just leave. The man's overly cheerful voice and the effort it was taking to resist his charm was giving Akihiko the start of a bad head ache.

"How rude of me! It must have slipped my mind. Do forgive me. Here." The man slipped one his slender perfectly manicured hands inside of his designed suit jacket, and pulled out a small card. "Keichi Kintama at your service." Ignoring the outstretched hand, Usami looked down at the card, trying to get the writing on the page to stop moving long enough for him to read it.

"Your kanji is _golden coin_?"

"It's not my real name of course, but it describes perfectly what I have gained from my business."

"And your business is…?" Once again Akihiko squinted down at the card in an attempt to interpret the wavering lines. In a sudden moment of clarity, he was able to interpret the kanji written there. He looked back up at this Kintama character with new interest.

"You're a pimp."

"Well personally I like to say that I deal in happiness, but yes essentially I am a pimp." Keichi rested his check on one upturned palm and sighed. "It's such a crude term though. I would prefer it if you avoided calling me that in the future." Akihiko looked at him, trying to figure out if the man was serious or not. He was never one for diplomacy. It was one of the reasons he loves Misaki so dearly. That boy was one of the most direct people he knew, always to flustered or embarrassed to used fancy words or encrypt his sentences with metaphors. He always says exactly what he means, with no added garnish.

With a jolt Akihiko realized he had been thinking about Misaki in present tense again. He emitted a frustrated growl and tipped his head back, emptying his glass in one swing. The whole reason he was drinking was to come to terms with the death of his precious lover. Which wasn't going to happen if he kept thinking of Misaki like this, as if the boy were still around, ready to pop out at the next street corner. That was how he had been living his life for the past eight months and it was painful. Unbelievable painful. He would often find himself desperately searching crowd on sidewalks and in building, hoping to catch a glimpse of those chocolate brown locks or even a flash of sparkling green eyes, only to realize what he was doing and quickly lower his head. Every time though, every single time, the realization that he was never going to see his loved one again came crashing down on him. And every time this happened it became more painful than the last.

He would give anything to see Misaki again. To see him, to touch him, to hold his slender body once more. To encase him in a tight embrace, and never let go. He had been unable to sleep in his own bed ever since the boy had left his life, for he knew that to wake up and not be able to snuggling up to his uke would be the most painful thing imaginable. He preferred instead to pass out on the couch in a drunken stubborn. It was better to fall into unconsciousness and partake in a dreamless sleep before waking up to a raging hangover than to fall asleep naturally, running the risk of dreaming about his lover only to wake up to an empty bed and a searing pain in his chest.

If only he could hold the boy once more, even a glimpse would be fine. He would give anything for that. He would kill for that. Anything to touch his Misaki and know the boy wasn't a dream. But know, that wasn't possible, and anyways, the man was talking again.

"You didn't hear a word I just said, did you?"

"No." The answer was blunt, and without even a shred of apology. Even so, Kintama laughed. Akihiko noticed with mild interest that he had a gold tooth, and wondered if it was real, and if maybe there was a story behind it. Not that he would write down the story if there was. After all, how could he write without his inspiration?

"Here, let me repeat. I asked you what your type was. You look to me like you prefer the lolita types." Once again Akihiko grunted his confirmation. "Any particular hair colors?"

"Brown." The reply was automatic. Akihiko realized the answer was going to do nothing but encourage the man, making the time when he would finally leave just that much further away. He mentally wacked himself on the head, feeling far too uncoordinated at the moment to do it physically. The pimps smile only grew wider.

"Anything else?" Akihiko shot him a look, but finding that this made him feel dizzy he returned his gaze to his glass. Maybe if he described Misaki down to the last detail the man would give up realizing he didn't have what Akihito wanted. After all, there was no one like Misaki in the whole universe. It was impossible for anyone to measure up to that level of cuteness.

"Green eyes. Not any green, but green like the sparkling of a great emerald. The kind of effect you get if you were to put a naked flame behind one of the gems and hold it there, letting the light dance through every faucet. And he must have pale skin with pink cheeks, like two roses floating in a bowl of cream." Akihiko was staring of into the distance now, with Kintama giving him a funny look. Not that Akihiko cared. He never cared what others thought of him. "His lips like his skin must be soft, soft enough to rival the silk worn by an emperor. And they too must be of the palest pink. But I mustn't forget his ears, or his hands, both have to be small and delicate. His fingers must be fit for nothing then touching the softest velvet cushions, or," His smile now had returned to its former sardonic self. "Running through the silvers hairs of his rabbit." He realized he had trailed off at some point, merely continuing the description of his beloved within the recesses of his mind, but he didn't care. Kintama must have gotten the point either way. Slowly, so as not to trigger another dizzy spell he turned his head to look over at the pimp, waiting for his reaction. He was not surprised to see the others face set deep in thought.

"Your description Mr. Usami is very precise, but you know, I think I might have just the type of boy you described." Upon hearing this Akihito's heart jumped and began to beat wildly with a rekindled hope. He immediately crushed it down with a firm hand. As if the man actually had Misaki. Such a thought was ridicules. Misaki was dead, and the proof was floating in a jar on his coffee table. Still though, the boy that Kintama was talking about must be very similar to his Misaki. Maybe…just maybe, he could pretend in was his former lover. After all, he had done it before with Hiroki. That had ended in disaster though, but maybe this time would be different. He knew it was probably a mistake, and that he was going to regret it horrible, but hey, he was drunk. He probably wouldn't even remember it in the morning. And it's not like he had anything to lose. He took another swing from his refilled glass before turning to Keichi and giving his answer.

"How much?"


	3. Chapter 3

The room Usami was finally led to was located within the same hotel as the bar he had been spending his nights at for the last eight months. The hotel was a five star one and Akihiko was impressed Kintama was able to run his business from within the high class suites. He wondered fleetingly if the bathroom had lions in it. A brief recollection of Misaki's excited face when he had mentioned those particular taps flashed across the author's mind and he leaned hard against the wall of the beige hallway, a hand brought to his head as if the weight of the memory were too much for his body to handle. Kintama patiently waited in front of the door they were to enter. He stood there, one hand on the doorknob; as if he were busiest man in the world and by waiting for the drunken novelist he was committing an act of the highest charity. At least that was what one would think by seeing the smile he was sporting.

Akihiko knew that beyond that door lay whichever poor whore he was going to us to replace his Misaki. He did not know in what position he would find the boy but he knew it would be in some way seductive, something that would flatter the body, an act that would presumable be helped along by whatever scraps of lace or leather were adorning the boy's body. He hoped to god it would do the job. He was still in doubt that he could be turned on by any body that was not Misaki's. The thought was mildly revolting.

But still, if he could somehow fool himself into thinking the person beyond that door was his long lost lover, even if it was just for one night, it would all be worth it. Right?

Maybe he had drunk a little bit too much.

He staggered forward and Kintama slipped the cardkey into its slot above the doorknob, still smiling. Akihiko wondered if he ever stopped. He knew others who were like that, Hiroki's lover for one, but this man's smile was the exact opposite of that warm welcoming grin. This smirk that seemed to be tattooed upon the pimps face was cold, and spoke of buried secrets which should never be brought into the light of day. Akihiko gave it a quick glance before looking away in disgust. The action ended up doing nothing more than giving his an acute sense of dizziness which forced him to once again support himself on the wall. The door was unlocked now and Kintama was holding it open, waiting for him to stagger through. With a sigh of resignation he once again pushed himself away from the wall and entered the room.

And stopped.

And stared.

The room was of generous size with gilded wallpaper and a bed so big he was sure the hotel could donate it to the zoo for the elephants to sleep on, and there would still be room to spare. But he was used to such things and he barely registered them in his shocked state. No, it was not the room which he was looking at. It was the boy.

He was skinnier than before, and his skin more pale. His eye to had lost its former glow and around them he could see dark shadow, despite the vain effort that had been made by several layers of make-up. Akihiko's mouth ran dry, but still he was able to emit a faint whisper before falling to his knees and passing out on the plush carpet.

"Misaki."

+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+

He felt as if there were a great black weight pushing down on his mind, smothering him and banishing all attempts at thought. As if he were at the bottom of the ocean floor with the weight of tons upon tons of salty water weighing down on his body. He pushed against it though, struggling to rise up, to push it away. He wasn't going to be oppressed. He needed to get up. It was urgent. It's just…

…he couldn't remember why.

Why get up? Why struggle? Why was he so desperate to leave the comfort of this black oblivion?

But of course…

…Misaki.

Akihiko shot up and glance around the room, frantically searching for the apparition he was sure he had seen maybe moments before.

"Misaki! Where are you?! MISAKI!"

But the room was empty.

There was no boy laying at the end of his bed, or standing nervously on the carpet. The chair beside the bed lay empty and he could see clearly both sides of the dresser the hotel had provided for its guests. Akihiko was alone. He snorted. It was almost funny how he could be so foolish. True, he had planned on pretending the boy he was going to be fucking was Misaki, but he had planned on having his eyes closed at the time, whether by squeezing them shut, or by covering them with a blindfold similar to the last time he had attempted to replace his bed partner with another through the power of his imagination. He did not think his mind had been so desperate to be reunited with his lover that he was now seeing hallucinations of the boy. He sighed and rested his head in his hands. He was truly the most idiotic, most masochistic bastard out there. Oh woe to him, he had finally driven himself into insanity. He shot a look at the hotel phone which had so graciously been placed on his bed side table. Maybe he should call up the loony bin himself. Spending the rest of his life inside a padded room couldn't be any worse than how he was spending his life right now. Although, looking at his life style now, he knew he wasn't going to last much longer. It was a wonder he had survived these 8 months already and wasn't just another decomposing corpse out in gutter somewhere. Death he knew would be a relief, and most likely the doctors in charge of the local insane asylum weren't about to let him just kick the bucket, no matter how much he begged them.

Abruptly his train of thought was interrupted by a muffled sob, quickly cut off, coming from somewhere within the room and his head shot up. Quickly, violet orbs scanned the area, but like before, his search was in vain. Still, he knew he had heard the cry, and it most certainly had not come from himself.

"Who's there?" Slowly he climbed out of the bed, pulling away the embroidered sheets in order to free his long legs so that he might search the room more effectively. He wondered who had laid them over him in the first place. They had been placed so carefully, with hardly a fold or wrinkle that he knew it had been done with a caring and attentive hand, hardly the work of a prostitute or even the pimp for that matter. People in those professions were hardly ever caring or attentive except to their customers, and that was only because of the pay they were hoping to earn at the end of the night.

His feet were silent as they padded over the soft carpeting. He noticed right away that someone had remover his shoes and had placed them neatly by the hall door. Reaching up, he realized someone had also unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and loosened his tie, as if to give him more freedom in which to breathe. But once again, who? There had only ever been one person who had been so attentive to his needs, and despite the illusion he had had just before falling into unconsciousness, he knew Misaki couldn't have done it. Despite his most desperate wishes, he knew that the dead do not return once they have left.

"Hello? I know there's someone here."

No reply, but that was to be expected. Though he knew it was juvenile, Akihiko found himself crouching down to look under the bed, if only for lack of anywhere else for someone to hide. He remembered how Misaki would always find the most ridicules places to squeeze his petite body into whenever he was trying to get away from being pounced. It had been an especially entertaining morning when Akihiko had found the boy curled up on the top shelf of the kitchen cabinets, way above either of theirs head level. He still to this day did not know how Misaki had managed to get himself up there, and he had a strong suspicion that Misaki didn't quite know himself. What he did know was that standing on top of a chair, trying to extract a struggling teenager from the shelf had been more dangerous than either of them had bargained for.

He knew it was to be expected, but he still found himself being disappointed when the bed turned out to be empty underneath. Where next though? Slowly, like a lion searching the savanna grasses for an antelope, Akihiko made his way around the perimeter of the room. Throwing open the doors to the walk in closet, he was once again disappointed to find the space empty, but he did not lose heart. There was still the bathroom.

Sadly though, that too was empty. He had checking behind the door and had drawn aside the shower curtains, he had even checked inside the cabinets, only to growl in frustration when all he found was some toilet paper and spare towels. He stormed back into the bedroom, and was just in time to see the curtains that hung in front of the tall windows give the minutest of flutters. With a grin, he was off toward the window, intent on ending this game of hide and seek once and for all.

Long fingers grasped the edges of the curtain and forcefully tore them aside, only to stand frozen, before lunging forward and wrap his arms tightly around the shivering figure he discovered there, as if he were never going to let go again.

"Found you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Don't own, not mine, never has been, never will be. Now leave me alone so I can go cry in a corner.**

"No!"

"Misaki!"

"No! Let me go!"

"Misaki! Calm down!"

"No! Don't look at me! Let me go!"

"Misaki please!"

"No! Don't look at me!"

"Misaki, please. I love you."

"…no."

"I love you."

Silence fell in the room as all struggles stopped and he felt the boy tense in his arms. He began to shake violently and Akihiko held him even tighter in an attempt to stop the tremors.

"Usagisan…please…let me go." He voice was no more than a whisper, and Akihiko had to strain to hear it through the sobs which he could feel raking the body of his young lover. He could feel his own amethyst eyes fill up with tears and he quickly blinked them away. He would not let anything stop him from looking at his love. "Don't look at me Usagisan…please…" His voice was so pleading, so desperate, still, Akihiko refused to comply.

"No Misaki, I can't do that."

"...please." He wasn't even trying to suppress the sobs anymore. He was entirely at their mercy, and nothing he could do would suppress the tearful sounds. One of Akihiko large hands began to slowly rub circles over his exposed back and unintentionally he began to lean into the larger man's embrace.

"No." Without warning the struggling started up again, more desperately now than before. Akihiko found himself wrestling the boy to the floor with both of his hands being used to restrain each of Misaki's. He was now straddling the boy's narrow hips, and he frowned when he noticed just how much his hip bones were sticking out. Misaki's tight shorts did nothing to cover them up. If you could call them shorts. They certainly lived up to their name. The top part of the outfit didn't cover up much either, being merely a set of thin leather straps crisscrossing Misaki's chest extenuating the pink buds. They also did nothing to conceal the angry bruises that marred his lover's creamy white skin. Some were so dark they were almost red, while others were a nasty yellow that made Usami's stomach turn. They were all evidence of continuous abuse.

The brunette continued to thrash and kick, desperate in his attempts to escape the eyes of the silver haired male. Usami couldn't help but notice how much weaker Misaki's attempts were, compared to from before he had disappeared, and his gaze was subconsciously drawn to the dark purple shadows resting below his beloveds emerald eye. Or at least the eye he could see, the other being covered by tangled strands of hair,

"Misaki! Stop it! Stay still!"

"No! Let me go!"

"Misaki! Stop it! Why are you doing this!?"

Once more the struggling ceases and Misaki lay limp beneath him. His face was turned away though and Usami could no longer see his eyes, hidden as they were beneath thick chocolate locks. He observed that Misaki's hair had grown longer since he had last laid eyes upon him, and though it did not take away from the teen's beauty, it made him frown. Just what else about his lover had changed since they had been so forcefully separated?

"Tell me Misaki, why can't I look at you? For eight months I've thought you were dead. Now I find out your alive, and you won't even let me look. Why Misaki?"

At his words, the body beneath him stiffened but didn't answer. Still though, Akihiko waited. It sent a jab of pain directly to his heart every time Misaki told him to not touch or even look, but despite that he felt a peculiar feeling bubbling up from deep within his chest. At first it puzzled him. He could not diagnose the feeling, until he realized with a jolt that it was happiness. He hadn't felt it in so long; no wonder he didn't recognize it. The tears falling from his eyes onto the cheek of his beloved were tears of joy.

Misaki's lips were parted now and he mumbled something brief but to quiet for Akihiko to make out.

"What did you say?"

"…'m…rty…ow"

"Huh?" With a sudden jerk Misaki turned his head and his tear filled emerald eye met Usami's amethyst. Akihiko's breath escaped in a sharp hiss when Misaki's hair fell away and for the first time he saw the leather eye patch.

"Do you see now Usagisan! I'M DIRTY NOW! I'M NOT YOUR CUTE LITTLE MISAKI ANYMORE! I'M JUST A FILTHY NO GOOD SLUT!" Misaki squeezed his eye shut and clenched his teeth. A strained look had come across his face and he was crying worse than even. It was as if he were waiting for Akihiko's rejection, waiting for the other to push him away and no longer have anything to do with him.

Though Akihiko was shocked he knew he had to act fast or risk losing his Misaki all over again, if not physically this time but mentally. Without hesitation he swooped down and had the boy's fragile body held tightly in his arms. It was with force that he crashed their lips together, but at the same time Misaki was able detect an indescribable tenderness and love in the kiss. With a gasp he parted his lips and without hesitation Akihito entered and began to explore Misaki's moist cavern with his tongue. He almost laughed with relief when he found that the other's taste was still as sweet as ever, and perhaps even more addicting than before.

When they finally parted for some much needed air, Akihiko gently licked away Misaki's tears before looking the teen straight in the eye. Misaki began to turn his head away from the piercing glare but a firm hand on his jaw held him in place. Still, he stubbornly kept his gaze from meeting that of the man above him.

"Misaki look at me."

"No."

Misaki, please, look at me." There was a moment of tense silence, but like always, Misaki was unable to refuse his silver haired lover and in the end turned his gaze to meet the others. Akihiko's mouth broke into a wide smile.

"Misaki, I love you."

"Don't say that."

"Misaki, you're beautiful."

"Shut up."

"Misaki, you are the most adorable person out there and every moment I spend with you is worth ten thousand, million Suzukisan."

"Baka Usagi."

"I love you Misaki. I love everything about you. I love your hair, and your toes, and your cute little ear, and I especially love your smile. And even though what I love most about you is your beautiful green eyes, I have to say, that eye patch looks damn sexy on you."

"God, you are so corny."

"But you like it that way." There was a pause, before finally a smile broke out on Misaki's face. It was not a very big one, and Akihiko could see the strain it put on him, as if this was the first time in months that those muscles had been used in such a way. Akihiko realized it probably was, and the thought sent a sudden wave of anger through his body, but he quickly stomped it down before Misaki saw and took it the wrong way. Instead he leaned down and softly kissed the corners of the brunet's smile nuzzling his cute little nose in the process.

"There, see? That's exactly what I was talking about."

"Baka Usagi."

"I love you." Misaki tensed again, and his expression became unreadable. Akihiko gazed at him, frowning in confusion as Misaki's mouth moved to form words but no sounds came out.

"…Misaki?" Still no reply. Akihiko was beginning to worry, but chose to stay silent. Misaki obviously had something to say, and he didn't want to miss it. Not after all the words he had missed coming from his lover over the past 8 months.

"Usagisan…I…I lo…I love you."

Akihiko could only stare open mouthed with shock before once more crushing his lips to his lovers. The kiss was hot and forceful, urgent in its movements. It didn't take long for Misaki to part his own lips, welcoming in Akihito, who didn't hesitate to begin ravaging the younger man's mouth. Two strong arms found their way under Misaki and lifted him up from the carpet were they had been lying, cradling him to a firm chest. Without breaking the kiss he brought them both to the giant bed before gently laying his lover down upon the soft mattress. Finally their lips part for breath, and once again Akihiko stares at the figure beneath him. Neither of them moved for a long moment before finally Misaki begins to squirm beneath the heated gaze.

"W-what are you waiting for?"

"Sorry love. You're just so beautiful; after all this time, I can't help but want to take it all in."

"Shut up." Akihiko had almost forgotten the way Misaki's blush would light up his whole face, turning him into a giant red tomato. He let out a low chuckle before descending on the boy's slender neck, raining kisses all the way down to his chest before coming back up again, this time with a serious expression.

"W-why did you stop?"

"Misaki, are you really sure you want me to keep going? What I mean to say is, I don't know what exactly has happened to you over these eight months. But I do know that the man who brought me into this room is not known for his kindness, and neither are the men he usually deals with. I don't know exactly what has happened to you in this room, but I can guess. What I do know is that every person who has hurt you, every person who has prevented you from returning to my side, a place where I know you will be safe and care for. Every single one of those bastards will pay for what they've done." His expression had taken on a stormy demeanor, so fierce that Misaki found himself squeezing his eyes shut and shrinking back from his lover. Seeing this Akihiko tried to soften his expression and at the same time brought up one of his big hands to cradle the cheek of the younger. It took a great deal of effort to maintain the kind expression when he felt the thinness of the cheek and the sharp angle of Misaki's cheek bone. He was unable to suppress a growl at the base of his throat though, but luckily this time Misaki did not shrink back at the harsh sound, although his eyes still were a little too wide and a little too timid when they finally opened and looked into Akihiko's. The older man wondered if Misaki had been taught not to form eye contact with any one. He could imagine it. He knew the rich business men that usually acted as customers liked to show dominance at every opportunity and forbidding eye contact was a perfect way to do this.

"Look at you Misaki. You've been hurt. So I'll ask again. Do you really want me to continue my advances on you? In this room, the same room where those bastards undoubtedly forced you in submission? Do you really?" As he had voice his questions, Misaki had slowly broken the eye contact, looking down, letting his hair fall into his eye, as if to hide the tears that were once again forming there. Slowly Akihiko brushed away the chocolate locks and bent closer, gently telling the boy through his actions that he no longer had to hide his fear, his discomfort. His other hand never left the velvety soft surface of Misaki's cheek, and slowly he began to massage small circles across the skin with the pad of his thumb. With greater care than before he leaned still closer and kissed away the tears with small tender movements. Eventually he drew back and waited for Misaki's to once again make eye contact. Akihiko loved taking care of his younger lover, and though his actions with the smaller one were usually quick and forceful, he didn't mind the fact that he now had to move slowly, and be gentle. What he did mind was the reason these actions were necessary. He was going to kill who ever had made his lover this way, no matter how many people that involved.

Eventually, after a few long moments, Misaki hesitantly brought his gaze up to meet his lover's. The tears were still there, but they were no longer falling, and for this, Akihiko was grateful. He hated seeing Misaki cry, the sight sending a stab of pain to his heart every time he witnessed it. Misaki's bottom lip trembled as he opened his mouth to reply.

"I-I'm sorry…for not being your Mi-Misaki anymore." Akihiko opened his mouth to ask what the boy could possibly mean, but closed it again when Misaki continued. "I'm acting like such a s-slut…" Again Usagisan opened his mouth this time to protest, only to end up closing it again. Misaki did not stop speaking, "Not fighting like I used to…I-I guess I'm just so used to having…" His voice became really small here, "…s-sex with whom ever comes in here that I didn't think about it…b-but your right. I don't want to have you connected w-with my memories of what has happened here. I-I don't want to think about you the same way I think about…them." He had begun to tremble again, as if the mere thought of 'them' were enough to fill him with an acute sense of fear. Seeing this, Akihiko felt the tears well up in his own eyes, but he refused to let them fall. He was Misaki's pillar of support, his harbor of safety. Misaki had essentially told him that he was currently the only good in the boy's life, and he was going to stay that way not only by not forcing the boy into submission like he would usually do, but by being strong all around. Crying wasn't going to help either of them, so instead he gathered his lover's quivering form to his chest, and held him there, tightly, caging him inside strong arms, and letting him know that the nightmare was over.


	5. Chapter 5

**I really wished I had chosen a better name for the villain, but then again I chose it late at night. Come to think of it, I only really write late at night…hmm…**

**I would like to take this moment to apologize for any horrific, disturbing, or all around unpleasant content that may be or have been in my fics. All complaints can be directed at that cup of earl grey I had an hour ago. Not my fault.**

**Lastly, this chapter was written kind of fast and while I was making myself a new sunhat. It was literally, finish a line of stitches, write a paragraph, finish stitches, write a paragraph. I think I edited all the choppiness out of it though. You people are lucky I told myself I would update as much as possible before school starts (which incidentally is in 3 days) otherwise, this chapter wouldn't 't have been written for the next few weeks.**

**Actually, one more thing. I was discussing this, and I have to say, if there were a soundtrack to go along with this fanfic it would be Nightwish's **_**Creek Mary's Blood **_**and **_**Ghost Love Score.**_

**Disclaimer: Incidentally, something else that is not mine would be the wonderful characters that found their genesis between the pages of Junjou Romantica.**

"Will you tell me how they got you? All I know is that one day you went out to buy groceries and never came back."

They were both lying under the sheets now. Misaki had curled himself into Akihiko's chest and was burying his face into the elder's neck, drowning himself in the scent he had missed for so long. It has a good few hours later. After the shock of seeing Akihiko again, then the trauma and crying involved in their reuniting Misaki had fallen asleep in the arms of him lover for the first time in months. Akihiko had been a little disappointed, but the shadows under Misaki's eyes were far too dark for his liking and he made sure not to awake the boy. Anyways, he liked watching Misaki's sleeping face, and he was relieved to see that it was just as innocent as ever.

Carefully he had tucked the petite figure under the covers, just as he was sure the other had done for him not to long before hand. Then even more gently than before he had slid in beside his beloved and wrapped his strong arms around the fragile body and pulled the boy to his chest. They had lain like that for hours, Misaki's quiet breathing and occasional sleepy murmur being the only noises heard within the room. The smile decorating Akihiko's face remained the whole time. Eventually though Misaki's lids had slowly slid open revealing sleep clouded emerald greens eyes, which had gazed at Akihiko with first shock, then overwhelming joy. He began to stutter his way through telling Akihito how he thought it had all just been a dream, but had abruptly cut off by a passionate lip lock initiated by the said impatient bunny. That kiss had been followed by many others, but they had stayed as kisses, never progressing into anything more. Now though, they were just snuggling, an action which Akihiko had never known how much he missed until it had been denied him for so long.

"I was walking home with the groceries when they caught me. I was going through a residential neighborhood, and well, I guess all the people who lived there were at work, because nobody came out when I screamed. It was very fast and efficient. They had a van waiting and everything. It was in the van were they first…where they first…where…" Misaki was shaking again at the recollection. His hands which had before been moving up and down Akihiko's chest in slow tender movements were now squeezing Akihiko's shirt in tight fists, his eyes shut tight as if to protect himself from the on slaughter of the memory.

"Shhh…it's alright. I'm here now…" Akihiko began to rub large soothing circles over the younger's back, although his insides could be described as anything but soothing. One look into his violet eyes would tell a story of a violent storm raging within the fiery pits of hell, for he knew what his petite lover was trying to say. It had been in that van where his captures had first raped his lover, and nothing Akihiko could think of, even with his writer's imagination, would ever be painful enough to suite the revenge he was planning out. Luckily though, Misaki could not see his face, so he was able to hide his white hot fury in order to comfort the trembling uke.

"I'm so sorry Usagisan. I tried to stop them but…"

"Hush…I told you, it's alright. It's not your fault. There's nothing to forgive. The only people who will be apologizing will be those bastards who took you from me and put you through this torment. So don't apologize anymore. No one's blaming you." The silver haired male was finding it harder to conceal his rage the longer he thought about it. Misaki had heard the spite in the elder's words when he had spoken of his captures, and it made him almost afraid for the pimp and all the others. They had Akihiko to deal with now, and that was a terrifying thought indeed. A sudden epiphany came over Misaki, and he froze, paralyzed by the sudden fear. Returning to the side of his lover had temporarily blocked all unpleasant thoughts from his mind, but with this new realization, a panic began to set in.

"Misaki? What is it?"

"Usagisan…um…we can't stay in this room forever. You're going to have to leave soon."

"And when I do, you will be coming with me." Misaki suddenly brought his head up and looked his lover in the eye, a frown decorating his brow.

"Baka! You can't just walk out of here with me! They'll never let you steal from them."

"Technically love, they stole from me first. You don't belong to them. You never did." A blush spread itself across the younger's cheeks, and his frown only deepened. Akihiko was surprised that he didn't argue that he wasn't an object that could be own like he used to do so fervently in the past. Had he become so used to being told that he belonged to that despicable pimp that the thought didn't even occur to him anymore? It was becoming harder and harder for Akihiko to not run out of the room and punch the first person he saw in the face.

"..But Usagisan, they'll never let me go, and…you can't just le-" In one quick motion Akihiko grabbed both his arms and held him still, so that they were looking each other straight in the eye.

"No, I am not leaving you. Do you think I suffered through those eight agonizing months without you, just to leave you behind because there is some maggot who thinks he can call you his own? Do you think that? Really?" Finally his face broke into a wide smile of relief and Akihiko saw some of the light return to Misaki's jade like green eyes. They were slowly becoming more and more like their former vibrant leaf green selves the longer he spent with his lover. The elder hoped to god that the other things he loved about his dear Misaki would return too if he gave them enough time. That, and that he would lose some of his newly acquired traits, like the way he would flinch every time the taller man moved to suddenly. That was one Akihiko hoped to get rid of as soon as possible.

"But Usagisan, what do you plan on doing? There's no escaping. I know…I've tried." A faraway look came into the younger's eye and subconsciously one of Misaki's small hands came up to tenderly massage his eye patch, as if the memory were making the empty socket ache for its former occupant. A great sadness came over Akihiko's face, mirrored only by the one in Misaki's. I sudden smirk painted itself across Akihiko features though, making Misaki stare in worry at the older man.

"I'll buy you back love. Then when were out I can hire someone well versed in the ways of torture. And set them lose on those worms." The smile that had formed on Akihito's face spoke of revenge and blood, making Misaki shiver slightly. Akihiko was relieved though when Misaki didn't say anything about wasting his money. It meant that the younger actually agreed with his plan.

"Well aren't you two just a sight, snuggling together under the blankets, plotting ways to overthrow my little business." The effect these words had was instantaneous. Akihiko threw himself over Misaki, while at the same time the boy tried to pull up the blanket, as if the thin fabric would somehow conceal his lover from harm. Simultaneously but lovers looked towards the door which had silently been opened while they had talked, and they were not surprised to see who it was who had crept in to disturb there little reunion. There was no mistaking the charm and friendliness of that voice, like the flowers at a funeral, such attributes were there only to cover up the evil which would otherwise bleed through and corrupt the air around it.

"Kintama." Akihiko's voice was a venomous hiss, comparable to a cobra finding itself confronted with a mongoose, although it was in no way as serpentine as the voice that came in reply.

"Akihiko…Usami…" A small whimper sounder from beneath Akihiko's chest, and the man made a small shushing noise, moving to stoke the soft hair of his lover in an attempt to quell the shivering that had started almost as soon at the blond had entered to room.

"You can be rest assured Kintama, that we are not at all planning to over throw your business. Far from it. Why we were merely planning on crushing the whole enterprise into the earth and beyond. In fact, we were planning out your one way ticket to the ninth ring of hell, then thinking of consult with Lucifer to see if there were anything else we could do to make you even more…_comfortable_ with your future accommodations."

"Why Usami, if I didn't know better, I would say that you didn't like me. But you know, your name…Usami…it rings a bell. You wouldn't happen to be _the _Usami Akihiko?"

"And if I am?"

"Why, this is wonderful!" Cried the blond, throwing his hands up into the air in a gesture of mock celebration and surprised. "Who would think, The Great Usami Akihiko , come to take a sample of my whores, only to find his long lost lover. Why, "Now he brought his hands to his heart. Out of the corner of his eye Akihiko spied the large frames of four burly men currently flanking the pimp. Kintama continued in his over dramatic speech. "Such a heart wrenching tale. I would feel horrible if I were forced to break you two apart once more. No, I can't do it, "One hand fell against his brow in a mock swoon, "I must keep these star crossed lovers together. It is the least I can do." Akihiko felt one of his eyes twitch in annoyance as he watched he pimp conclude his short monologue.

"Good, so you get the point. Now step aside so we can leave." In one swift motion Akihiko rose from the bed with Misaki held tightly in his arms. He took a step towards the door only to be stopped by one of the gorillas that surrounded the blond putting a hand to his chest, halting him in his tracks.

"Leave, who said anything about leaving. I would much prefer it if you stayed here with us. After all, the name Usami had a lot of money behind it. And I'm sure your family will be wanting you back."

"So," Akihiko managed to growl through clenched teeth. Subconsciously his arms tightened around Misaki's slender frame. "You're going to keep me here as hostage." Kintama clapped his hands together once more in delight.

"Now you've got it."


	6. Chapter 6

**I was dragged off to a family get together and was forced to type this on my phone. This means weird autocorrect, and no edit to grammar. I'm sorry. I'm also sorry for the shortness, but the next chapter will be long…hopefully**

**As I was saying before though, I' making this up as I go along, so any suggesting for future plot would be really appreciated. Thanks! 3**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Junjou Romantica.**

"No!"

All eyes in the room turned to Misaki in shock. The brunette had his armed tightly clasped around Akihiko's neck and the man could feel him shivering in his arms, but still his gaze did not waver as he glared at the blond.

"No! I won't let you! You can do whatever you want to me, but you can't have Usagisan!" There was a moment of silence before Akihiko opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by a wild laughter coming from the man in front of him.

They all stared at the man, and Akihiko could tell that even the pimps body guards were beginning to winder if they boss had gone insane.

After several long moments in which Misaki shrank even further into Akihiko's chest, the laughter finally died. They all listened as Kintama gasped breathlessly before finally he spoke.

"Why Misaki dearest, I don't think I've ever heard you sound so determined. This Usagisan must mean alot to you. It's even better than I thought! Oh, we are going to have so much fun together!" Once again he burst put laugh, doubling over until he had to support himself on his knees or risk falling on the plush carpet of the floor. Akihiko realized that Misaki wasn't even looking at the blond, and instead had his wide fear filled green eye trained on the large men behind the pimp. Looking up, Akihiko realized with a jolt that the four men were steadily advancing in the couple.

Akihiko turned to put Misaki on the bed so that he had his hands free to protect his lover, but no one could have anticipated what happened next. Without warning Misaki lept at the first of the body guards. A blood curdling scream tore through the air as Misaki sank his teeth into the burly man's neck. Immediately a large hand took hold of his head and yanked him off, throwing his to the floor. The damage was already done though and the rest of the room watched in horror as crimson liquid began to stream from between the fingers the man had pressed to his neck. He cursed loudly as he pulled back on of his boots so that he could kick the slender frame of the brunette as he lay disoriented on the carpet.

"MISAKI!"

Before anyone could so much as blink the large man was on the ground, the wide frame of Akihiko standing over him, on arm outstretched, his hand clenched into a fist. Scarlet paint had splattered itself over pale knuckles where they had connected with the other man's jaw.

"Don't you dare touch him!" Satisfied that the man had been knocked cold Usami wheeled around and knelt next to his lover. "Misaki, are you alright?" The brunette didn't answer immediately instead choosing to spit out the blood that had seeped into his mouth.

"I'm fine Usagisan," he looked up at the older man,"I-BEHIND YOU!" Usami wheeled around, only to narrowly miss being kicked in the face as Misaki wrapped both hands around him and pulled.

"Get away! Leave Usagisan alone!"

"No can do kid, he's too valuable."

Akihiko struggled to stand back up but failed. Misaki had spread himself over the man, protecting him from the blows that Usami could feel slamming into his lover's body. Finally he managed to get both hand on Misaki's waist and pushed the boy off him.

"Stay out of this Misaki, your in no state."

"Baka! Let me go! You'll get hurt!"

"What, so the plan is you get hurt instead."

"Look, I hate to butt in on your little lovers quarrel, but this is taking too long. Would you just hurry up already?" Kintama clapped his hands in impatience and immediately the three remaining body guards charged. A furious struggle ensued, in which Akihiko got in a good many effective punches and Misaki a few more bites but it was over too soon, and before either knew what was happening they found themselves pinned to the ground, the smallest of the three holding down Misaki while the others found themselves struggling to control a frantic Usami.

"Let him go! You can have me, but let him go!" Misaki's muffled cried cut through the air, but to no avail.

"I'm sorry you two, I really didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice." the lean figure of Kintama made its way over to the two captive, and Akihiko's eyes were immediately drawn to the syringe held in the pimps slender fingers. The blond handled it with a practiced air as he made his way over to the struggling figure of Misaki.

"Don't you dare! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU TOUCH HIM! YOU DEVIL! I'LL KILL YOU I'LL-!" In one swift movement one of the bodyguards had produced a small rag, which he didn't hesitate to jam down the throat of the screaming man. Still, even though no words could be made out the noise continued. The desperate screaming filled Misaki's ears as he watched the slender needle approach the pale skin of the arm his capture was holding out for the pimp. His eye widened in terror and pain as it entered the flesh, and the last thing he remevered before falling into unconciousness was the wide wolf like smile decorated with a single gold tooth.


	7. Chapter 7

**I'd like to start out by apologiesing profusely for the delay. I am very very very sorry. Now that the school years started I am not only juggling three separate jobs along with intense blackbelt training, but I now have schoolwork to add to the mix. Sometimes I can't help but wonder how Nowaki managed to continue functioning with all his jobs, but then I remember that he's a fictional character and I'm not. As Mrs. Benet likes to say; Pui for me.**

**Warning: Some swear words, but not very many. Sexual content, but no one losses their pants so all you uptight people can relax. And for all you perverts, sorry, maybe some other time. There's also some abuse in this chapter, so if you don't like body parts bending in ways they shouldn't then too-da-loo. Goodbye. All the reactions to the abuse though are as realistic as I am able to make them, which is very considering I tried a few on myself. My mom thinks I'm insane now, although I think she came to that opinion years ago and I just spend every day enforcing it. I wanted to make this fic as realistic as possible though and as they say, no sacrifice is too great for art. Although if you read Le Grande Circus Guignol by Kaori Yuki then you know what I'm talking about when I say that rule doesn't always apply. But let's not dwell on technicalities and I'll let you get back to the fic while I get back to my Japanese essay.**

**I'd like to give a shout out to raiu2112 for her SIH fic whose awesomeness is of epic proportions! Seriously, after your done reading this, you should zip over to the SIH section of FFN and read that little work of wonderfulness. You won't regret it. And if you do, I will personally beat you up! J.K. (maybe XP)**

**Disclaimer: Nope still don't own, though if I did I promise to share it with all you lovely sugar buns because I'm a nice person. *Hides knife behind back***

Something cold was pressing hard against Misaki's cheek. It was not a good cold, like the cold that came in the form of slender fingers and passionate kisses. This was a stony coldness, hard and unyielding. Grimacing he tried to pull away until he realized it wasn't just his cheek but the whole right side of his body that has touching the unyielding coldness.

He began to wonder when the world had become so black until he remembered that he had yet to open his eyes. Slowly lashes parted to reveal bright emerald green orbs. For a second his mind registered that he was lying on his side, pressed against the tile floor of the bathroom, facing the tub before his he remembered his rabbit. In an explosion of movement he attempted to sit up, stomach muscles straining to bring him upright without the help of his hands or legs. Something seemed to be restraining these limps. Behind his back he could feel his arms forced together at the elbows and wrists and before him he could see that all the way from his knees to his ankles had been bound in silver duct tape. Alas though, his abdominals were not up to the task and he began to fall backwards. Panicking, he tried to call out, but someone had had the forethought he tape up his mouth, and all he could manage was a strangles gasp. This wasn't good. Wasn't good at all. His heart was pounding against his chest and only one thought filled his brain.

Usagi.

He tried to look around but couldn't. Frantically he writhed on the floor, like a worm on the sidewalk trying to escape the burning rays of the sun. His breath was coming in short gasps through his nose, and his heart was going a mile a minute.

Usagi!

Usagi! Usagi! Usagi! Usagi! Usagi! Usagi! Usagi! Usagi! Usagi! Usagi! Usagi! Usagi! Usagi! Usagi! Usagi!

Suddenly something touched his back, and arching his chest he tried to get away, only to feel whatever it is drape itself over him. He couldn't escape it. It was too big, too heavy.

Suddenly though a flash of silver appeared at the corner of his eye. His heart skipped a beat as he turned his head straining to see, but not wanting to get his hopes up in case it were nothing. After all, during the past few months, it hadn't been unusual for him to imagine the a flash of silver out of the corner of his eye to be his land lord, come to take him away. He almost cried with relief when the pale face of his lover came into view. His hair was a mess and like himself he had a strip of tape over his mouth, but to Misaki's eyes it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The sight though was also one of the most painful. While Misaki had been in this situation before, he knew Akihiko had never faced such circumstances. He remembered the first time. It had been just after that horrific van ride that had taken him from his lover and to this accursed hotel. He had been thrown into a room filled with about twenty other boys also tied up in this way. At first he had stayed as far away from the others as possible, but eventually one of the older boys had approached him and showed his a way to get the tape across his mouth off. Now if only he could make Usagi understand what he had to do.

Though they could not talk he could clearly read his lovers eyes. The pupils, now violet from intense emotion seemed to radiate anger and frustration. Misaki would have been scared if he wasn't also able to see the worry and tenderness which shone out just as strong. His small frame was suddenly overwhelmed with the desperate need to hug and kiss his rabbit, so much so that it began to hurt not to. He needed to get the tape off.

With quick purposeful motions he began to gesture downwards with his chin. Silver eyebrows furrowed as Akihiko stared in confusion. Misaki continued the motion and hesitantly Usami looked down, then back up at his lover. The younger realized that in the position the other was in, lying like the other line of an X with their heads close together and Akihito's stomach pressing down on Misaki's side, Akihiko would not be able to see his hands. Squirming a little, Misaki managed to get his fingers in position to touch the firm muscles of Akihiko's lower abdomen. He almost swooned at the contact, it had been so long, but after shaking his head to clear his thought he began to gesture again. This time though, every time he brought his chin down to point, he would deliberately poke the other in the stomach. Akihiko grimaced but he seemed to understand for Misaki felt the muscles of the elder's stomach clench as he eased himself off the uke. Misaki wasn't sure how the silver haired male got himself into a sitting position, but he did and in no time at all was looking quizzically at the small hands of the younger man. A sharp snort from Misaki quickly brought his attention back to the other's face though.

Misaki realized that this time, getting the man to understand was going to be harder, and so he had to think before he finally decided on the set of movements that were most likely to get his point across. Making sure that the author was looking him straight in the eye, the brunette looked down with all the while moving his hands in a grabbing motion. After a moment he looked back up, only to see a confused expression cross over the older man's pale face. But if there could be said one thing about Misaki, it would be that he doesn't give up (After all, just how many times had he fought against Usagisan's advances?), so despite his lover's puzzled expression, he did the whole thing again. This time, looking into the violet orbs, Misaki was almost able to see understanding in them, but it was quickly clouded over once again by confusing. So again he tried, only this time gesturing to the other's face with his chin, and exaggerating the motion of his hands, until it looked like he was peeling something from the air. It seemed to finally work, for though Misaki could see that the other was still incredibly confused, he began to lower his body until his face was right next to the younger man's hands. Over joyed, Misaki quickly pinched the edge of the tape and with slow deliberate movements began to pull it off the face of his lover. Finally there was a gasp, and the rabbit was free.

"Misaki! Are you alright?! Where does it hu-" His frantic questions were immediately brought to a halt by a loud noise of indignation coming from the uke's still covered mouth. "Sorry."

With a smile Usami brought himself up to the uke's face and gently nuzzled his jaw. "Here, let me help you with that." Misaki couldn't help be in awe at how even that simple sentence had come out as something perverted. He rolled his eyes at his seme before quickly squeezing them shut at the pain from having the tape stripped away. All he could do when he was free though was breath in a lungful of air, and so he wasn't able to stop Akihiko with his comment of, "and there goes what little bit of facial hair you had."

"Baka Usagi!"

"I love you." Immediately the rest of Misaki's face turn red, to match the patch of skin that had been pulled at by the tape.

"Shut up!"

"You aren't going to say it back?" Akihiko made a big show of pouting.

"Baka!"

"Aww, but I want to hear it from the sweet lips of my lovely Misaki." Usami was nuzzling at the bit of skin below the uke's jaw line now, an area he knew Misaki was especially sensitive. "You already said it once. Say it again."

"No, now stop that! We need to figure out how to get out of here!"

"Come on Misaki. Just three little words." Apparently eight months of abstinence had not decreased the seme's skills one bit, in fact all it seemed to have done was make Misaki more sensitive than normal for the brunette could feel his will power crumbling by the second.

"Usagisan…" Though Misaki had meant it to be astern reprimand, it had turned out resembling more a moan than anything else.

"Come on Misaki. Do it for me." Akihiko could almost tangible feel the moment when his lover gave in. he knew now the time of begging was over, all he had to do was wait. A full minute passed before Misaki finally opened his mouth.

"Usagisan…I-I…I love…I love you." It was quiet, but Akihiko knew what he had heard, and quickly, before Misaki had any time to add anything afterwards, Akihiko had the tender lips of the brunette captured in his own and was working there tongues together at a frenzied pace.

Misaki couldn't stop the moan from escaping, and he couldn't help the way his lips parted, letting the author in to ravage and plunder the treasure he found there. Finding himself unable to wrap his arms around his lover, the giant rabbit had to make it up by pressing as much of himself to Misaki as he could. Both men groaned in unison as their groins brushed against each other's. Akihiko knew he had said he wouldn't take his lover while they were in the hotel, but now that it was no longer a choice, and abstinence was being forced with no consent from him, he found he could no longer control himself. Some part of his mind registered that it was a case of wanting something more just because it was denied, but the rest of his brain was quickly becoming consumed by the beautiful melody his lover was sounding out below him. He began to work his way down Misaki's neck, biting and sucking until he knew the other would have several new bruises. Bruises that would tell anyone who cared to look that Misaki belonged to him, and it was unacceptable to take him away. As if with a mind of their own, his hips began to grind down against the brunette's tight black shorts and he thought his heart would explode with love and want when he felt the hips beneath him rise up against his in order to increase the friction.

Another moan, and Akihiko could make out Misaki trying to tell him to stop under his breath, but he couldn't stop, even if he wanted to. He had been separated for too long from his lover, his soul mate, his other half. Now that they were united it was as if the laws of the universe were forcing them to crash their bodies together with as much power as possible. As if they were opposite sides of a rubber band that for the past eight months had been stretched further than it was ever meant to stretch. It was as if someone had then let go of either side and they had crashed against each other with a energy so powerful that any resistance was futile. He needed Misaki. Misaki was his. He had to have Misaki. Now.

The door to the bathroom crashed open and Misaki froze as a cold laugh assaulted itself upon their ears. Akihiko ignored it though, and continued to ravish the stiff body beneath him. He was pretty sure that whoever had opened the door (He didn't bother to check) was here to separate him from his lover, and he wasn't going to let them do that. Every moment with Misaki was precious, now more than ever, for he knew, though he refused to admit it even in his own mind, that they were going to be separated once again. He swore to himself though that once they were, it would not be for long.

He managed to get one more taste of his sweet uke's mouth before strong hands grabbed his arms and pulled up. He bit his lip and refused to let any sound escape as his arms were bent backwards in a way nature had not built for. He heard Misaki's frightened yelp but he couldn't see what they did for his eyes were squeezed shut from the pain of having his silver locks yanked backwards until the back of his crown came into contact with his shoulders. He couldn't breathe properly, and he was sure the skin and tendons of his neck would start tearing if he went even a millimeter farther, but he managed to open his eye enough to see the menacing smile of the blonde pimp's face as it loomed over him.

"I'm sorry, were we interrupting?" Usami didn't answer. He was sure he couldn't with his neck being stretched so far. Instead he only smirked after spitting quickly into the blue eyes which were leering from above. Instantly the face disappeared and he felt his hair being release. His head snapped forward and he moved his jaw around slightly, trying to massage his sore neck, though not succeeding.

"Son of a Bitch! Don't you go trying that again!" A palm connected hard with his cheek and he heard Misaki cry out again as his head connected painfully with the edge of the open door. He barely registered the pain though as he blinked blearily, the world going fuzzy around him. Vaguely he could see Misaki trying to get to him, emerald eyes streaming as his pink lips opened wide, calling his name. In vain he tried to smile and assure the boy that he was alright, but the world was going black. And then he knew nothing more.


	8. Chapter 8

**Here's another quick update for all you people who have been nagging me about it. This chapter is slightly different being as it is told from Misaki's first person point of view. Seeing as I just got hired for another job, though granted this one is merely of a circumstantial nature, update will be even slower during the week. Weekends I'm as free as a bird. That is until my mom notices that this is not at all a college essay but is in fact boy on boy porn. But let us all hope that day never dawns. Now on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

His body hit the tile floor with a dull thud drowned out by the sound of my desperate screaming of his name. His eyes were looking at me from behind half closed lids but the pupils were dilated and I could tell he was fading away.

To me, Usagisan had always been the very epitome of strength, he had been something I could always rely on to be there and make everything better. He was the panther of the jungle. Free to hunt and live with no one able to tell him what to do, or even dare get in his way. No one was as strong, nor as majestic, nor as elegant as him. Now, seeing him fall, hearing his body connect with the hard floor.

It was more than I could bear. Something in me broke. Something I had been keeping together by the thinnest hair snapped, and I began to scream. Desperately I called his name. My voice echoed of the bathroom walls, amplified hundreds of times till all there had to cover their ears or risk deafness.

But there was no answer, no response and I was losing heart. An anger was rising up inside of me, stronger than I had ever felt before. I could hear by self-screaming abuses and threats at my captors but at the same time I felt myself overcome with an eerie sense of calm. It was as if I were two different people and I felt my body struggling with my bonds, and I felt the man holding me kick me in the back.

I watched at I crashed to the floor and heard the crack as my shoulder connected hard with the tile and snap, but at the same time I felt no pain. I could do nothing but watched Usagisan lie there next to the door, still as death.

The thought sent a new surge of anger and fear threw me and I felt my body begin to thrash harder although at this point I had no control over it. It was as if I were just a spectator watching serenely as my flesh struggled to get close to Usagisan. A booted foot came down and pressed against my shoulder but I was beyond pain and I only puller harder against the restraints on my arms. Eventually a great hand came down on my mouth and squeezed shut my jaw. The screaming was abruptly cut off. A copper taste filled my mouth and I realized I had bitten my tongue. Despite all this I never took my eyes off the silver hair of my lover

As I watched helpless, two burly men position themselves at either side of Usagisan and grunted as they lifted him up and carried him out the doorway. Too soon he was gone from my sight. As soon as they took him away I felt the two parts my mind that had separated themselves join together once more. I became more aware of my surroundings, of the movements of the people around me and the sound of Kintama barking orders.

I was beyond caring though. I had noticed it happening over the past months. I had slowly begun to lose interest in things. Whether that was if I had had a meal in the past few days or what the customer above me was doing. I had just begun to cease to care.

It had only been at the appearance of Usagisan that the weight of what had happened crashed down on me. It had been devastating, but when it had happened I had had my Usagi there and it had been alright. But now he was gone, and I was back to a state of numbness.

Thick arms wrapped themselves around my waist and someone heaved me over their shoulder. It was an action Usagisan had often used on me, but it had none of the comforts I so craved. Roughly I was carried out the door. As I left I heard Kintama telling off one of his men for allowing the Usami Group to track the hostage's location through a cellphone. So Usagichichi was coming, that was why they were rushing us out. Maybe Kintama was too late, maybe he was here already. Maybe…

It was too late; before I could stop it the wings of hope had begun to flutter in my stomach. They began to rise up, taking me with them. It had happened many times over the past few months of my torment. Someone would speak of a rabbit, or an Akikawa Yayoi they had read recently and hope would rise up unbidden, with nothing I could do to stop it.

It was not the rising that was so unbearable. It was the inevitable fall that was in the end so terrible. After a while I had learned to catch myself before it became too bad, but this one caught me off guard and I was unprepared. Because…maybe…just maybe…

…Usagichichi would come, and Usagisan would not have to go through the living nightmare that I have been experiencing.

We were coming out to the hallway now and there was a laundry cart waiting for me. It was how Kintama ran his business. All supplies, all whores, and everything else would efficiently be smuggled into the hotel rooms through a whole system of laundry carts and maintenance staff.

The guard unceremoniously dumped me into the bottom of the cart and buried me under a pile of pre-prepared dirty linens. I bit my lip to stifle the cry of pain that shot through me when my shoulder came in contact with the hard wires at the bottom of the cart. More of the coppery taste filled my mouth when my teeth pierced the skin and I say it bleed onto the sheets currently smothering my face.

While the cart shook and tilted as we made our way through the hotel I tried to occupy my mind with wondering whether I would choke myself with the blood currently filling my mouth or whether the sheets would cut off my breathing first. Any thought was welcome at that moment as long as it wasn't about how they would be treating my Usagisan.

I gave up on that though and opened my mouth, letting the blood spill out from between my lips. I began to instead pray with all my might that Usagichichi would make it in time. I wasn't sure who I was praying too, and I realized I didn't care. At this point anyone, as long as they would help him would do.

And the answer came.

Shouts sounded out from beyond the sides of the cart telling the driver to stop. Whoever was pushing began to speed up and I was flung against its side as we flew around corners. A shot ran out. So Usagichichi was here! I had to do something. I had to…

"…help…" my voice was too quiet. I realized I had not yet allowed myself to believe that crying out would do me any good. I tried again. "Help!" I knew I would be severely punished for making noise, but at this point I didn't care. They had to save Usagisan. "HELP! HELP ME! PLEASE HELP!" More shouting. They had heard me! They were coming!

My heart jumped into my throat in terror though when I heard the sound of the ground running beneath the wheels of the cart change. We were on pavement now. Which meant we were near the van. Usagisan was already in there I knew. They were just waiting for me to be loaded in before they would take off with use, probably to some storage unit somewhere. Usagichichi wasn't going to make it in time.

With a bang the cart connected with the back of the van and I was flung from it and catapulted onto the floor of the trunk. This time I could not stop myself from crying out when my shoulder connected with the hard rubber mat spread across the floor. There was another crack and another jolt of pain in my shoulder as I rolled until finally coming to a stop when I ran up against something cool and soft. I opened my eyes, although I wasn't sure when I had closed them, and I realized I had landed against Usagisan. My face was buried into the soft fabric of the shirt on his back. For a second my mind found peace as I breathed in the familiar musky tobacco scent of my rabbit before it began to struggle.

My back was too the doors, but I heard them slam shut, shaking the van and effectively cutting off our exit. The van was already in motion and we were bumped and jostled as the van flew over speed bumps and what sounded like crashed through a few barriers. I had no way of telling though, the windows were covered by metal shutters and I had no way of seeing the front of the van for there was a firm metal wall separating us from the driver and passenger seats.

I did not pay attention to this though; I was too concentrated on my unconscious lover. Again I began calling out his name. I could see his face now. His back had originally been facing me but with the constant bumping a jerking of the van, his limp body had been turned so that he faced upwards.

I did not know where we were going, but journeys like this were usually long ones. Kintama did not want his extensive organization of prostitution to be found so as a result he had many old ware houses and self-storage places rented out all over the city and surrounding country side of Tokyo. I had spent a lot of time in one of those. I hadn't known where I was; only that it was dark and cold. It had been during the winter and the rain had come in.

That had been the most miserable month, a month spent lying on the freezing cement floor. Sometimes the place would flood and I would have to learned to fall asleep lying in a puddle of water. One morning I had woken up to find myself frozen into the ice that had formed over the surface of the water. I still wonder why I hadn't lost any toes to frost bite.

The memories sent a shiver through me and I looked at my rabbit. He was still unconscious, lying limp on the floor of the truck. I pressed myself against his broad chest for comfort, burying my face into his neck and breathing in his scent.

Under no circumstances would I allow Usagisan to experience anything like that. I was going to get him out of here, even if it killed me.

**I really need to stop reading Dracula. I only just realized how similar my style of writing in the beginning authors note is to Bram Stokers style. My Bram Stoker obsession is probably also to blame for this chapter being in 1****st**** person POV, something I had not realized until I was half way through the chapter. Sorry. Same time next week then?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello I'm baaaaaaaack! Miss me? I bet you didn't. It's not like people actually read these. You all just love me for my stories. Not that I care though. You all will be happy to know that this is a reeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaally long chapter. I've been typing it whenever I get bored during school which is a lot. So as a result, there was a lot of typing. Welcome to my longest chapter so far.**

**I would like to take this space to brag and say I AM NOW OFFICIALLY DATING THE HOTTEST, SMARTEST, AND SWEETEST GIRL IN THE WORLD! I am so happy I could throw this computer across the room and not give a damn. I mean, I've been in love with this girl for three years! Yes maybe it wasn't the ten plus that Hiroki was pining after Akihiko for but still. It felt like forever. Watching her go from one guy to the next was pure torture. But she's mine now! MWAHAHAHAHA! No actually, she's a lot smarter and stronger than me so if owner ship were to be granted to only one of us, it would be to her since she could overpower me in seconds! You people seriously have no idea how happy I am right now! She is literally the most beautiful girl in the world! And, well, I'm not sure if she likes me as much as I like her but she might! Maybe…hopefully?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own. Not that I really care, because I have a girlfriend! In yo face!**

The first thing I became aware of was the throbbing pain in the side of my skull. I grimaced. The second thing I became aware of was a pleasant softness under and surrounding my head. It was warm and smelled like comfort and home. I felt myself smile at I tried to burrow myself further into the heat. I nuzzled myself closer and closer, pressing myself down, but froze when I heard a whimper come from above me. I knew that sound. My eyes flew open.

"Misaki!" I was lying on Misaki's chest in what looked to some kind of ware house about the size of a ballroom. As I looked I couldn't help notice the fences surrounded us dividing the floor into sections. The fenced section we were in looked solid, not something I could force my way through. It was a cage. I was snapped out of my observations by Misaki's quiet voice.

"Usagisan…it hurts." In a flash I had pushed myself off him and was grasping him by the shoulders, looking him over for any signs of injury.

I was not disappointed. Gigantic purple bruises marred his arms and chest. His right cheek and eye were swollen almost shut and red angry scrapes covered his sides and arms. My heart jumped into my throat when I saw the dried blood peeking out from the sides of his mouth.

"Are you alright? No, stupid question. Where does it hurt?" His reply was strained, a voice I've associated with him holding back sobs.

"Usagisan…my shoulder…" Immediately my hands released him and sort of hovered over his body, not sure here to touch and not cause him pain.

"What's the matter with it? What happened? Where have they taken us?" The sides of Misaki's lips curled up in the shadow of a smile.

"Shhh…It's all ok." A slender white hand came up and began to stroke my cheek in calm fluid motions. It was only then that I realized that the tape binding our hands had been taken way. "Do you know what question you're going to ask first?"

"Yes."

"Shoot."

"What's the matter with your shoulder?" Misaki's looked away and his long tangled hair fell over his eye. This was not the question he wanted to answer. I sighed. My poor dear Misaki, never wanting to be a burden. "Misaki, if you don't tell me then I'm going to poke you until you do." He looked at me with the shadow of a smirk.

"No you aren't." I sighed again.

"Well, no I won't but I will recite my latest yaoi novel to you cover to cover." To my surprised he actually laughed out loud.

"Usagisan…" Slowly he leaned forwards until his forehead connected with my chest. Tentatively I placed one of my large hands over his boney back and began to rub slow circles across his protruding shoulder blades.

"Misaki?"

"…It's just…while I was gone…I told myself I would give anything… if only I could hear you read one of your crap novels out loud." I was smiling now too and we stayed like that for a while, just taking comfort in being together again.

It was only when my hand on his back strayed too close to his upper shoulder that he gave out a yelp of pain and tensed up against me.

"Misaki! I'm sorry. What happened?" There was a small whimper but no answer until I returned to rubbing his back again, now being extra careful to avoid that spot. His voice was quiet, as if he weren't sure whether or not he wanted me to hear him.

"I fell." I almost growled in frustration.

"Misaki." My tone was dark with warning.

"Ok, I was pushed when we were in the bathroom? Happy now?" He reacted as if I were Takahiro asking why he had been staying out so late last night. I would have laughed if I weren't so furious.

"No, I am not happy. They are going to die. I swear! I will kill them with my own hands!"

"Usagisan, calm down. You can't do anything while we're locked up in here."

"And just where is here anyways?"

"I'm not sure. I mean, I know we're still in Tokyo, but I'm not sure which district They rushed us here as fast as they could when they learned Usagichichi was coming."

"My dad? How did he-?"

"He tracked you through your cellphone which one of Kintama's men forgot to confiscate."

"He's got a tracker on my cellphone!" That explains how he knew which hot springs we were staying at that one time.

"Usagisan, I really don't think that's the issue here."

"Fine, whatever. I just hope he knows he will be paying for that."

"I'm sure he does."

"So they rushed us out. Then what happened?"

"We were put into the back of one of their vans and brought here. I tried to stop them but they managed to lock us in, and well, that was that." He gestured to a heavy padlock on the sliding door of our cage as he spoke.

"I see. And is there no other way to get out." Misaki's face immediately fell and I knew the answer before he even opened his mouth.

"No." The answer came from somewhere else.

I wheeled around, immediately getting into a protective stance in front of Misaki. It was only then that I realized we were surrounded by hundreds of eyes, all peering out at us through the gaps in the chain-link fences. They all looked so familiar, although I'm sure I hadn't ever met a single one before.

It was their expressions I realized, they were the same as Misaki's when I had first found him. I wondered how I hadn't seen them before, but then I realized. They were all so still, so lifeless, my mind must have dismissed them as nothing more than the background.

I felt Misaki's hand on my shoulder drawing me back.

"Usagisan, it's alright. That's just Shinobu-chan." I looked over my shoulder to see my lover's face, but he wasn't looking at me, rather his sad gaze was trained over on one of the cages next to ours.

"Misaki, you never really answered my question. Just where are we?" The answer didn't come from behind me, but rather from the dirty blond crouched in the cage in front of us.

"You're in storage. Kintama doesn't need you right now, so you're stuck with the rest of us until he does. This is where he keeps us if we aren't useful, or if we've displeased him. Just think of it as one of the many places Kintama uses to store his excess merchandise, or merchandise that needs some breaking in." I stared hard at the boy in the neighboring cage who had answered the question. I was trying to see if he was serious or not. He was in nothing but a torn and stretched out t-shirt coupled with some threadbare basketball shorts. His hair was matted and stuck out in every which way and there wasn't a single part of his body, of what I could see at least, that wasn't covered in filth. I had been ignoring it, but now that I was aware, I couldn't help but wrinkle my nose at the stench of piss and unwashed bodies that filled the warehouse.

"How long have you been in here?" The blond shrugged.

"Only three weeks. Not as bad as some people. I mean, Misaki was in here for, I think, five?" I must have failed at hiding the flash of anger that filled me at those words because Shinobu quickly looked away from my face and hunched his shoulders as if to protect himself from some imaginary blow. I had seen Misaki do the same thing to not too long ago and I couldn't stop the roar of anger that rose in my gut and filled the warehouse with my rage. With both hands I grabbed the chain link that surrounded us and began to pull at it, trying to get it to give in some way and set us free.

"Usagisan! Usagisan! USAGISAN!" Misaki's thin arm had wound itself around my waist and was trying to pull me back, but I refused. I would get us out of here! How dare they do such things to my Misaki!

The clanging of the fence echoed throughout the warehouse, its sound increasing by tenfold until its sharp clatter hurt our ears and made the people surrounding us cover theirs. Unconsciously, my mind registered that the people in the surrounding cages were quickly backing away from the fences surrounding them, but I didn't pay attention. Misaki's arm was still around my waist and he was pulling harder than ever, but I didn't stop.

A swift cry was the only herald to the sharp pain that coursed through me and I stumbled backwards numb. The hand grasping at my abdomen went limp but I was unable to do anything. For a few mind numbing seconds it was all I could do to continue standing and not topple backwards onto Misaki.

It passed quickly and as soon as I had regained control of my body I spun around and wrapped my arms around my boyfriend.

"Usagisan…please, don't do that again."

"Oh, Misaki." I buried my face in his tangled chocolate locks and breathed in. "Are you alright?"

"It's ok Usagisan, I'm used to it. Are _you_ alright?"

"I'm fine. My concern is you. You so petite, it must have hurt."

"Well sorry for being small." I couldn't help but snicker at the way he crossed his arms and jutted out his bottom lip in the cutest pout I had ever seen. Not missing a beat I swooped down and planted a quick kiss on his unexpectant lips. They tasted a little of blood, but it wasn't enough to overwhelm the sweet taste that is pure Misaki and I sighed into his mouth. When I pulled away I couldn't stop my own lips from smirking at the scarlet blush that had painted itself across his pale cheeks.

I only got to admire it for a second for almost immediately after the kiss something over my shoulder caught his attention. His swollen eye widened in fear and he pressed himself to my chest. Almost unconsciously I wrapped a protective arm around his thin frame and turned around, effectively tucking him behind my body.

While I had been occupied with my lover two burly men had approached our cage. My eyes immediately flickered down to the long, solid looking metal rods they had clenched in their meaty fists. I couldn't help but notice the switch on the rods located close to their hands. I wouldn't put it past them to generate some sort of electrical charge. It would explain the shock I had gotten when I was shaking the metal fence.

The brutish looking men were unlocking the door to our cage now and I tensed. Instinctively I attempted to make myself look bigger whether that was through swelling my chest or spreading my arms in an attempt to cover Misaki better it didn't matter. Something primordial rose up in me as I watched them approach. These two gorillas were going to have their smiles wiped clean off their faces if they laid even a finger on what was mine.

"Were you the one who was making all that rack-" They never had a chance to finish. A shift of stance was the only warning I gave them before I charged. After months of starving myself and barely moving from the couch I was granted not as heavy or as strong as I used to be but I still managed to tackle them to the ground. We landed with my knee in one's gut and my elbow in the other's neck. It was now of all times that I wish I had Hiroki's lover with me. A guy that size was someone you wanted on your side in a fight. I was not heavy enough to hold them down for long though and as soon as the shock wore off they began to struggle and kick, making my ability to stay on them decrease with each passing second.

I may not have Kusamasan here to back me up but I did have Misaki, and he was definitely a force to be reckoned with. Out of the corner of my eye I watched as he dived at one of the men's hands. A strangled yelp came up from his throat and as Misaki retreated I saw he had managed to liberate the lightning rod from one of the men's hands, a hand that from the looks of it had been broken completely at the wrist. I turned my head to look at him fully and I think I stopped breathing for a minute.

He held the weapon with one hand, the other hanging limply at his side. There was a fresh red mark on his cheek, about the size of one of the brute's hands. (I swung my next punch extra hard for that.) He held the stick out in front of him protectively, though his hand was shaking along with the rest of his body. But at that moment I felt so proud. It was all I could do not to leap up and give him a kiss whatever the circumstances.

He began to walk towards us, despite the violent shaking on his knees and the look on his face that told me he wanted nothing more right now than to turn tail and run.

I lost my focus though on the men below me and one of them managed to free themselves from my grasp. Desperately I grabbed at his ankles but I was too late and he hurtled himself at my beloved.

"MISAKI!"

There was a yelp then a crash as the great form of the man slammed against the far wall of our cage. I think Misaki looked more surprised than I did. My admiration of him was cut short though as I felt a burning pain fills my body. My arms gave out and all control left. I collapsed on top of the thug below me and with no effort at all he pushed me off.

"Hah! Serves you right! Now don't go trying it again." He had me by the hair and pulled my face up level to his. I could do nothing but glare as he spat on my cheek.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Neither of us expected the blow that connected with the man's thick skull. I watched him fall, the shock and pain frozen onto his face as it connected hard with the concrete floor. Blood splattered the hard ground as the man's nose broke and the veins inside exploded upon impact. Before I could react though I felt a hand grab me under the arm and pull me away.

"Usagisan…shit…we need to get out. Can you get up yet? Please tell me you can get up. Usagisan, you're ok, right? Please be ok."

"Yeah, I'm fine." With effort I forced my shaking knees to support my weight as I stood up using Misaki's good shoulder for support. I looked with concern at his other one. It had swollen to twice its regular size with all the moving around he had been doing and it was practically glowing with a bright sickly red. I would have hugged the life out of him if it weren't for that, so instead I settled for a quick kiss that ended up being extended until Misaki eventually drew away for air. Which was ok with me because his shoulder needed looking at immediately, and that wasn't going to happen if we just continued standing here.

"Come on Misaki. We've got to get out of here before those two wake up."

"Just wait a moment." The support under my arm disappeared and I almost toppled forwards was Misaki ducked away. One I regained my balance I looked over at him. He was crouched over one of the guards and was fiddling with something. There was a groan form the man's fallen body and Misaki quickly jumped away with something in his hand. There was a flash of silver as he ran over to the door of the cage next to us. I realized he had liberated the keys as soon as he inserted them into the lock, which turned and the door slid open. Immediately Shinobu was in front of Misaki, holding his hand out expectantly.

"Give me the keys. You get your boyfriend out of here. Capiche?" I could tell Misaki was going to argue, after all, when had he ever let someone else do any work for him, but he must be feeling worse than I thought, for after a short moment of hesitation he handed the keys over.

"Thanks Shinobuchan. Good luck. Miyagisan would be proud." At the mention of this name Shinobu's cheeks immediately lite up until they glowed almost as much as Misaki's shoulder. Miyagisan huh? For the first time in months I couldn't wait to get back to my keyboard and type up the new story that had begun to form in my head.

Misaki turned to me with a strained smile. "Are you alright now?" I looked him up and down. His skin was paled to an almost sickly hue, and against it his bruises and gashes were standing out in dark contrast. He was covered in a thin layer of sweat and when I looked closely I could see him shaking with exertion. An even closer inspection showed that he was chewing the inside of his cheek in an attempt to ignore the pain. My poor sweet uke was sick and wounded in the worst way imaginable and yet still he asked me if I was ok. I couldn't take it anymore and wrapping my arm around him, I lifted him up into my arms.

"Usagisan! Put me down!"

"No."

"But Usagisan!"

"Misaki, you're shaking from exhaustion. No way in hell am I letting you down."

"I'm fine Usagisan! You can't just carry me out of here! I'm too heavy!"

"Misaki, I could carry to all the way to Timbuktu if I wanted. Now stop moving, you're jostling your shoulder."

"But I-"

"Misaki just let him carry you already. Unlike you he's probably had a meal in the last 24 hours." Misaki froze in my arms and I gave him a furious look. He shot a glare over at Shinobu who was already a ways down the row of cages. Boys, no older than Misaki, were filing out of the opened doors, and as a group they began to head towards what I assumed was the exit. There was a wild look about them, with their wide eyes glancing furtively around, lost and wary. Seeing them made my own eyes sting, so I looked back down at my lover.

"What is he talking about Misaki?" There was silence as green orbs stared determinedly at a spot on the middle of my forearm. "Misaki…" I drew the name out in warning that my patience would not last.

Finally he answered though his eyes never left their fixed position on my arm. "One of my customers had a complaint…and I haven't eaten since."

"And how long ago was that?"

"…Four days ago."

"Where's the exit." My words came out as a growl through gritted teeth.

"Usagisan, you're squeezing me again." It was with a great force of will that I loosened my tight grip on his arm.

"Where is it?"

"That way." One spindly finger rose up to point down a row of cages to our right. Now that I had a goal, I practically charged down the hallway I was so furious.

"Usagisan! Slow down, we can't just rush out there! They've got guns, and tazzers, and there are a ton of them! Please, calm down." His hand was once again coming up to touch his eye patch. So even though I was almost overcome with the need to charge at the first guard that got in my way like some kind of angry bull, I slowed my steps and looked around, wary or any one coming across us unexpectantly.

Up ahead I could see what looked like a fire door. I paused before it and the teens that had been following me stopped too.

"We need a distraction." Misaki looked at me with a puzzled expression. "Something to draw the guard away." Understanding spread over his face and his cute little brow wrinkled in concentration as he tried to think of something that could come in handy.

One of the lightning rods found its w ay directly in front of my face and I reeled back, almost falling, but catching myself just in time. I gave a small sigh of relief at having not dropping Misaki before spinning around to confront who ever had waved the weapon.

My gaze fell upon the form of a slight black haired boy holding the rod out to me in one trembling hand. I glared down at him, silently asking him what he wanted.

His eyes never left his feet as he spoke in a quiet timid voice. "Use this…t-the voltage from the electrical charge s-should be h-high enough to combust m-methanol…" I looked at the kid in wonder. In another life I could see him with thick glasses and a sack of heavy books piled into those spindly arms. I felt Misaki shift in my arms and realized that his politeness streak was coming out and that in a second he was going to introduce us.

"Usagisan, this is Minamoto Daisuke, he's from Tokyo U." I smiled at the admiration I heard in Misaki's voice when he mentioned this. "Daisukechan, this is Usami Akihiko. M-my boyfriend." Despite the situation, I was beaming. This was the first time my uke had ever introduced me as such, and I was going to treasure it forever. In fact it was going to go directly into the next Junai Romantica novel if we ever got back. No, I made a mistake, _when_ we got back. I was going to get Misaki out of here, and _nothing_ was going to stop me! I focused my attention back to the genius standing before me.

His gaze had finally left his feet and he was looking at me in what I could only categorize as the fan boy stare. A look I had often seen Misaki direct towards that cursed The Kan mangaka. Not wanting to deal with this right now, I tried to get it over with as fast as possible. Turning on the smile I saved specifically for award ceremonies and interviews, I spoke to the kid.

"How nice to meet a fan, even in these circumstances." I heard Misaki snort as he recognized the voice and smile, but I paid it no mind, and went on. "Can you please continue with that brilliant thing you were saying about alcohol and voltage?" After a moment of sputtering and blushing, he continued.

"I-I-I b-believe i-i-it's c-called a m-Molotov c-cocktail!" I swear my eyes lit up when I heard that.

"Brilliant! Absolutely Bloody Brilliant! If you were Misaki I would kiss you!" Misaki and Daisuke's faces both sported identical looks of surprise at my outburst along with them both blushing equal shades of tomato red. Then a thought occurred to me and all hope seemed to drain away as if someone had pulled the proverbial plug. "We need alcohol."

It was Misaki who answered first. "There should be some in the office?"

"Office?"

"Yes, it's where the guards go when their on break. It's got a tv and couches and stuff, plus a mini fridge. Everyone who enters and leaved Kintama's storage units have the walk by the offices. And judging from the smell of most of the guard's breath, it's pretty obvious the fridge is full of beer." I didn't bother to ask how Misaki got close enough to the guards to smell their breaths.

"From what you tell me, the office is always occupied. How are we going to get to the fridge?"

"Why not use another distraction."

"We need a distraction to make a distraction?"

"Exactly."

"But what should we do?"

"Let me take it from here?"

"Shinobu?" The dirty blond strode over to us with the air of a suave gentleman, nonchalantly swinging the key ring on one finger. Misaki was frowning.

"You shouldn't Shinobu."

"But I can. If that's what it's going to take then it's what I'll do."

"Misaki, what's he talking about?"

"He's going to willingly seduce the guard." I looked up in shock. Shinobu was looking exasperated now. He crossed his hands in front of his slim chest and scowled at Misaki.

"Well do you have any better ideas? I mean, come on, it's what we've been trained to do. It's what we're best at. And face it, there's nothing else we can do." Misaki too was scowling now, although he didn't seem to have as much practice as Shinobu so that it came off more as a cute pout.

"I won't let you. If that's what's going to happen though, I'll go in your place."

"NO!" The reaction from both of us was immediate and loud. Misaki visible flinched then moaned as he accidentally shifted his bad shoulder.

"Are you insane Misaki?! Not for the world would I let you do such a thing in your state! If fact I would rather face Aikawa with a ten year over due deadline than let it happen in normal circumstances."

"He's got a point Misaki. You're so beat up right now that I don't think anyone but your boyfriend here would even think of going for you. Face it Misaki, you literally look like road ki-"

"Oi!" Whether that person was on my side in this argument or not, I wasn't letting anyone insult my Misaki. Ever.

"Thanks…" Misaki's reply was laced with sarcasm. Shinobu's only response was a sardonic grin before he spun around and began to trot away towards where I assumed the office was. Seeing him leave, Misaki began to struggle to get out of my arms, but I only gripped him tighter and followed the blond. If this boy was going to actually try to seduce a guard then we needed to get in, get the beer, and get out quick, before anything too serious happened. Somehow I felt responsible for the teens currently surrounding Misaki and me, and I refused to have an innocent boy raped on my watch.

The stream of boys surrounding me immediately pressed themselves to the walls and floor as we came up to what I assumed to be the office. A large window opened in front of us, showing a view of a modest room containing several beat up looking chairs and a couch. Against the three beige walls that I could see there was one water cooler, one 9" tv and upon a table, one mini fridge along with a microwave that looked like it had seen better days. One of Kintama's gorillas was lounging on the couch, his filthy steel toed construction boots propped up on some cushions as he stared fixedly at the baseball game on the screen. We had to distract that guard long enough to get all the way to the opposite side of the room where the mini fridge was and then back again without him noticing. This was not going to be easy.

The whole time we had been walking, Misaki had been looking over my shoulder at the boys, his head moving back and forth as though searching the crowd. Presently though I saw his face brighten up, and as I set him on the floor and pressed myself to one of the cage walls, he called out in a loud whisper.

"Keisuke." Immediately one of the boys on the floor began to crawl towards my uke. He seemed, no other way to put it, petite. I had thought Misaki was small with his little elfin face and his child like hands, but everything about this new boy was miniscule. Still Misaki was far cuter, especially since this Keisuke didn't have the large, stunning eyes owned by my boyfriend. Eye, I corrected myself. I was going to have to get used to this. I was still getting a shock every time his hair was brushed away and I got a glimpse of the leather eye patch.

The boy was in front of Misaki now and Misaki was looking at him with a tortured apologetic expression. "Kei-chan, I'm really sorry for asking you this, but you're the smallest and the fastest, and…um…" My heart went out to him then. It seemed now was going to be one of the few times in his life that Misaki was going to ask for something from any one, and I knew how hard that was for him. But I had an idea of what he was asking, and I definitely wasn't going to let him do it himself. After a few stutters and stumbles though, Keisuke finally decided to rescue my boyfriend from the impossible task.

"You want me to be the one to get the beer." Misaki looked down at his lap ashamed. He nodded in a resigned manner. Keisuke smiled at him in an understanding manner. "It's alright Misachan. It can't be that hard. I wasn't number one track star out of all the high schools in Tokyo for nothing. Misaki looked up with a tired grin.

"You braggart ."

"Can you see me any other way?" Misaki pulled a face.

"Can't say I can."

"See. It has to be me."

"Yeah…I know." Finally Misaki turned to me with a resigned smile. "Everything's ready Usagisan." At his words all eyes in the hallway turned to me. I wonder when I had become the unofficial leader of this mini revolution. It must have started with Misaki. After all, I had always been the one he looked up to for support and instructions in tight situations. Somehow this must have passed on to the other boys here.

Now that I was leader though, it was up to me to guide them out of here and I knew beyond a doubt that I would do everything in my power to accomplish it. This revelation shocked me. Before I had met Misaki all those years ago, I would have probably just given up on the situation as hopeless. It was a little bit of a shock to realize just how much Misaki had changed me. Looking over at my beloved I smiled and nodded.

We had a plan, granted, not a very good one, but it was there, and we were going to use it to the best of our abilities to get us out of here, come hell or high water. We were going to go home.

**I don't usually put these down here but I would just like to say, if you have noticed that this fic seems to be getting farther and farther from reality you are not delusional. The more I have of homework and school, the less time I have for research. Help, the realities of life are taking over and there is nothing I can do to stop it. Uh oh, better stop typing, the computers starting to smell like burnt plastic.**


	10. Chapter 10

A small knock brought the guard's attention from the small figures running around on the TV to the door of the small room of the office. With a grunt he swung his heavy boots off the arm of the couch and heaved himself up. His footsteps were heavy and uneven as he made his way towards the door and Shinobu's stomach dropped as he realized the man was drunk. Rather than incapacitating the man, alcoholic influence often acted as nothing more than a medium for making them more violent and cruel.

"What do you want?" Spittle landed on Shinobu's face as the guard threw open the door, causing it to bang loudly against the already dented wall. His words were slurred together making it so incomprehensible that Shinobu had to take a moment to realize what he had asked. Though he could feel his knees shaking in fear and his palms began to feel clammy from cold sweat, he stuck his chin out and gave the man a sly look.

"Why, I don't want anything. The question is what do _you_ want?" The guard only blinked his beady eyes at the boy in confusion. Shinobu sighed inwardly and began to languidly lean forward and trail a finger down the man's chest. He grimaced inwardly when he felt the soggy wetness from where the beer had spilled onto his shirt. However, having to use a bucket in the corner as his only means of bathroom for the past three weeks, he was somewhat immune to such things and he continued with his seduction. "One of your friends sent me." He raised himself up on his tip toes in order to whisper in the man's ear. "I'm yours all evening." The man only smirked.

From outside the office, Akihiko watched through the window as Shinobu maneuvered the man so that he was facing away from the door. He was suddenly glad his stomach was so empty, otherwise he might have to actually throw up when he saw the ease at which the man began to unzip his pants and Shinobu slipped his hand into the man's underwear. Finding that he couldn't watch anymore, he turned his face away and looked down at his lover who was currently resting with his back against the wall.

Slowly, so as not to attract any attention from the guard in the office, Akihiko slid down until he was sitting next to Misaki. A glance told him that he was on the side of Misaki's missing eye and since he didn't want startle him, he slowly crawled over to his other side and slid an arm around the boy's waist.

"There's nothing you can do," The brunette didn't respond but he leaned his head into the elder's side. After a few moments of silence though Misaki finally opened his mouth. His voice was quiet and resigned.

"He has a lover you know," When he got no response he continued. "He's a professor at M University. Apparently he's seventeen years older, but he says that never stopped them. Shinobu used to tell me all the struggles they had to go through to stay together. They've worked so hard. Shinobu almost ended up going to Australia where he would have lost Miyagi-san forever. But Miyagi-san chased him all the way airport just to bring him back at the last second. And after all that…Shinobu ended up here…" Misaki didn't continue, instead breaking down into muffled sobs. Gently, Akihiko maneuvered the boy until he was cradling him to his chest in an action of pure tenderness.

"Oh Misaki, my dear, beautiful, kind, sweet Misaki. Why is it that you are able to cry for anyone else but yourself?" There was no response save an increase of frequency and volume in the sobs. Misaki's good shoulder shook as he buried his face into Akihiko's already wrinkled and dirty shirt. A swift glance told Akihiko that the guard was deep in the throes of pleasure caused by the blowjob courtesy of Shinobu. Keisuke was getting ready to dash in and everything was going exactly as planned. The rabbit turned his attention back to his beloved. "Everything is going fine, Misaki. We'll be out soon and Shinobu-san will be back with Miyagi-san. There's nothing for you to worry about."

"Usagi-san…people have died trying to escape from here. I-I…lost my eye…so…I want you to promise me something…" Misaki's voice was quiet and choked with sobs but Akihiko heard it and was silent as he waited for the favor to be asked, "Usagi-san…if you make it through but Shinobu and I don't, then please call Miyagi-san, and tell him what happened."

"Misaki don't talk like that,"

"But Usagi-san, what if it happens?"

"It won't,"

"Usagi-san, you don't know that,"

"Yes I do,"

"They have guns though,"

"I don't care,"

"Baka Usagi! Stop being so stubborn!"

"Misaki, I refuse to leave here without you,"

"Look, just promise, ok?" Akihiko looked down at the determined expression on his uke's battered face and decided not to argue anymore. Misaki was worn out enough and didn't need the added stress.

"Fine. I'll do it," Misaki's face instantly relaxed in relief at this answer.

**(A/N: I don't know why, but for some reason it switches to Akihiko's POV.)**

"If I give you his number, will you remember it?" I nodded and Misaki gave me the professor's cell number. Briefly, I wondered what I could possibly tell this total stranger if I actually did ended up calling him, and then I realized, I did not want to even consider such things. To allow thoughts like that into my head was admitting to myself that we might not make it. It was something I could not allow.

We were both interrupted from our thoughts by Keisuke's return, a six pack clutched to his chest. It was then that I realized the major flaw in our plan.

_ How were we going to save Shinobu?_

The thought occurred to Misaki at the same time and he looked at me with horror clearly painted across his face. I cursed myself right then. How could I be so stupid? No, it wasn't stupidity; I had been negligent. Like always, I had been too concentrated on Misaki and had ignored the world around me. It was a habit I had acquired and never bothered to rid myself of. There really never was such need when we lived together in our life of luxury at the apartment. The real world was for other people to deal with, people like Aikawa and my father.

And now the people around me were suffering for my negligence. It was my fault Shinobu was in there about to be raped and abused. I was the one to blame, and so thus, I should be the one to save him. Making sure Misaki was safely positioned with his back against the wall; I rose and began to advance toward the office door. Shinobu spotted me as I neared and he scowled at me, obviously telling me to escape and let him take care of himself. This kid had way too much bravado. Like hell he was going to be able to get out on his own.

The doorknob was within my reach and I put my hand out to turn it. The guard was too distracted to hear me and with confident strides I made my way over to the fridge. Upon opening it, I was not surprised to see the rows and rows of Sapporo beer. I was surprised though to see Misaki's face peering at me from the doorway. His condition had deteriorated so much that I could see his violent shaking even from over where I was standing. He was glaring at me as he leaned heavily on the door frame and I directed my own frown back in his direction. Why wasn't he sitting down? Just what did he think he could do to help? He could barely stand.

But he didn't move any closer. I don't think he could have, even if he wanted to. It looked like it was taking every fiber of will in his body just to continue leaning there. I forced myself to harden my heart and look away. Misaki wouldn't be going anywhere and I needed to save Shinobu-san.

My fingers curled around the neck of a bottle and I debouched it from the fridge, careful not to clink any glass together as it emerged. The brute still had his back to me and was oblivious to the world as he lost himself in his indulgence.

In the end, it turned out to be pretty anticlimactic. It didn't even take that much strength to smash the bottle over his head. A simple thud was the only sound he made as he fell backwards and Shinobu stood up furiously wiping his mouth.

"You didn't have to do that. I could have done it myself."

A simple, "Sure you could have," was the only response he got as I quickly turned around and dashed towards my Misaki. All I got was a relieved smile as he collapsed into me. Gingerly, I caught him and cradled him to my chest. It was then, just as I hooked my arm under my beloved's knees, that a great bang and clammer came from outside the office. My head snapped to the window and I watched in horror as a dozen guards descended on the boys outside. I flinched as their screams reached my ears.

**Misaki's POV**

The world seemed surreal. Somehow, I felt like I was beyond it, as if nothing could affect me. I was here, pressed tightly against the hard lines of my lover's chest, but at the same time I was floating, beyond everything, hardly able to feel anything. It was the feeling I'd had in the bathroom, except without the clarity. My mind was too stuffed with cotton to think clearly. The world seemed too bright for my eyes, so I shut them close.

I realized my mistake only after I felt a great jolt, and opening them revealed that Usagi-san had thrown us both to the floor. The air was heavy and I couldn't breath right. Suddenly all my efforts went into trying to draw a breather. My chest strained to expand and let in precious air into my lungs, but there was a weight on top, pressing me down, robbing me of the life-giving oxygen. I panicked and began to try harder, but I couldn't breathe and with the little bit of air I had left I managed to croak out a tiny call for help.

"…Usagi-san." Immediately the weight disappeared, and I realized that all along it had been Usagi-san using his body to cover mine on the floor. He had been shielding me, and the rush of adrenaline that had come with the panic allowed me to lift my head and took a look around. In a flash I was back in my own body and reality returned to me like a great wave washing over me and making me sick. Bile rose in my throat as I watched one of the guards grab poor Daisukechan by his hair and yank him backwards. He was underweight from months spent here being underfed and undernourished and he fell to the floor. He disappeared over the window ledge and I see no more.

Shinobu was at the door now, pressing himself to the wood, trying to keep it shut. It was locked but despite that, it shook violently as the guards outside tried to force themselves in. I turned to Usagi-san and he understood. Picking me up, he deposited me behind the couch, out of view from the window and anyone who manages to break through the door. My cheeks burned from the treatment, but I forced down the humiliation I felt. Despite how much my pride was wounded from having Usagi-san treat me like such a baby, and despite how much I hated being a hindrance and something that had to be looked after, there was nothing I could do. I was too weak.

Usagi-san had joined Shinobu at the door now and the screams outside had gotten louder. There was a shot and there was one less voice adding to the cacophony. I wanted to cover my ears and curl into a ball. I wanted to forget it all and go somewhere else, but I knew I couldn't. This wasn't like the nights I spent servicing client after client. I couldn't just go off into my own little world. Usagi-san is in danger and so was everything else. I realized with a sickening blow to my chest that despite how much I wanted Usagi-san to live, I wanted to be there when he dies. I scolded myself for the morbid thought, but I also swore silently that I would not let Usagi-san die alone.

It was then, just as the shouts and screams hit their highest volume yet that my eyes landed on the phone. It was old and looked deceptively like something you would find in a school or office building. It was on a small table half hidden behind the tv, and even from here I could see the thick layer of dust coating it. It looked like nobody had used it in years and they probably hadn't, not with the cell phones every guard carried in their pockets.

But the phone triggered a response in me, and I realized what I had to do. Usagi-san and Shinobu where still at the door, pressing all their weights against it, straining not to let the wood splinter and let the guards in. They weren't going to be able to do it. It was up to me.

Shakily, I began to crawl forwards, dragging myself across the floor towards the little table. I could just reach it now and my trembling fingers managed to knock the phone off from its hook. It landed on the ground in front of me and I put it to my ear. I was greeted with silence. There was no dial tone telling me that the phone had been knocked off its hook. Adrenaline coursed through me once more as I refused to give up hope and desperately began to jab at the buttons. The silence was still there. No matter how many times I punched in Miyagi-san's number, the phone would not connect.

I saw the cord then, almost crying out at the unfairness of it all when my eyes landed on its frayed hem.

A loud splintering ripped through the air followed by Usagi-san's shout. My head whipped around and my eyes widened in fear as I saw the door fall in. Shinobu had jumped back but Usagi-san had done the opposite and was valiantly struggling to hold back the first two guards. I felt like crying out as I watched him slowly being pushed back. His teeth were gritted and I could see the determination in his eyes. I knew I had to go to him. With a great effort, I managed to get my legs underneath me. My arms felt less substantial than spun sugar but somehow I managed to raise them and put my hands on the table. My breath came in short gasps as I strained to pull myself up, but in no time I was standing.

Hesitantly I took a step, only to fall backwards. I cried out as the back of my head connected with the wall. The roughness of the plaster scrapped my back as I slid down to the floor. I was slumped down in a corner and from my vantage point, I watched as the blurry image of Usagi-san was slowly overpowered. I wanted, _needed,_ to go to him, yet no matter how much I shouted at my body to move, my arms remained at my sides and my legs never left their position of being folded under me. Now, more than ever, as the lights slowly dimmed and the darkness began to creep into the edges of my vision, I cursed my small frail body.

My mind began to float and a memory from long ago drifted to the surface. Usagi-san was laughing as I showed him an advertisement I had found online for making your bones grow faster. It all seemed so silly now.

As my eyelid slowly began to lower, one crystalline tear found its way out of the corner of my eye and traced its way down my cheek. The last thing I remembered before being claimed by unconsciousness was my rabbit's strangled cry of alarm and pain.

When I awoke to what seemed like seconds later, it was to an oppressive silence. There was no movement around me as I forced my lid open. I looked around only to confirm what I had already predicted. I was alone. There was nothing to attest to the presence of the guards or boys except the glass strewn on the floor from a broken window and a scarlet puddle of blood near the door. The sight of it made me feel sick and I turned my face away from the floor as I dry heaved, causing pain to course through my body in waves.

I felt worthless, lower than dirt. The guards had come and I hadn't helped at all. I had done nothing but lie there as the devils had descended upon the people I loved. It was my fault they had been out of their cages, and it was my fault they were being punished for it now. I curled into myself, tearing at my hair and clawing at my face in a fit of self-hatred. I was worthless, shit, a hindrance, an abomination. I had killed my parents and now I had brought harm to my fellow captives. And Usagi-san. The very thought brought more pain to me than anything any guard or client had ever done. Usagi-san was gone. This time probably for good… and it was all my fault. One of my scratches went deep enough to release a warm trickle of blood which dripped down my cheek onto the carpeted floor.

A moan from the couch made me freeze and hold my breath in both fear and anticipation. When there were no more noises following it I slowly uncurl from my ball on the floor and got up onto my hands and knees. Every movement I made was a fresh flash of pain but I welcomed it as a small compensation for the punishment I knew I deserved. I looked around confused. There shouldn't be anyone here. I knew where the boys and Usagi-san had been taken. They were out in the yard surrounding the warehouse, facing their inevitable punishments. The guards would be with them too. The guards always came out when one of us was being punished, and now the punishment was going to not one or two but all of the captives. I knew they wouldn't be able to stay away. So who had made the noise?

I crawled out from the corner I had fallen in, only now realizing how well hidden I had been. That must be why I was still here. The fact that no one had seen me had spared me from being taken away with the rest of the boys. It made me sick that my cowardice had granted me special treatment.

I had crawled around the tv. I was able to see the front of the couch now, and I realized where the noised had come from. The guard Usagi-san had knocked out was still there. I remembered one of the thoughts that had entered my mind before, and I hurriedly dragged myself towards him.

He was no longer unconscious now; just sound asleep and I moved quickly but carefully as I dipped my hand into his pocket and pulled out what looked to be an iPhone 4. I stared at it in wonder, at a loss to figure out how a man on a simple guard's salary had managed to obtain it until I realized he must have stolen it from one of the boys.

I turned it on. A sigh of relief escaped me when I saw that there was no pass code. Shooting a quick glance at the guard, I scrambled away, my knees protesting violently to all the crawling I was putting them through, but like the rest of the hurt plaguing my body, I ignored them. Returning to my corner I lit up the screen of the electronic device once more and brought it to my face. It took a while to find the button that would allow me to call someone but I located it eventually and I froze, my finger hovering above the virtual keypad.

Who would I call? Before, during the fight, my mind had gone to calling Miyagi-san, his number being fresh on my mind, but now I wondered. He was just a professor. What could he do? But the police were out of the question. The chief of the Tokyo police was a regular client for Kintama's boys. So who could I call? The ideal person would be Usagichichi, but I didn't have a clue as to what his number was. It seemed Miyagi-san was my only choice. Hurriedly, I dialed the number and held the device to my ear, frantically racking my brains for something to say. The phone was picked up on the second ring.

"Leave it Kamijou! I told you I wasn't done!" The voice was gruff and masculine. Misaki swallowed.

"Hello? Miyagi-sensei?" There was a pause and then.

"…Hello? Is this a student? How did you get this number?"

"I-I'm not a student. I…um...I mean…Shinobuchan gave it to me." There was another pause, though this time it seemed to be more hostile, more threatening. Finally the answer came, though it was more a growl than anything else.

"…Who is this?" Misaki flinched at the malice in the other's voice, but somehow managed to force the next sentence out, despite the way his throat had closed in fear.

"T-Takahashi Misaki, I-I was…taken j-just like Shinobuchan."

"Takahashi-san, is it possible, I mean could you tell me," The voice had softened from the harshness it contained before, though I could still hear a roughness in it, a roughness I recognized from Usagi-san. The man was a heavy smoker. "Where is Shinobu?" The way he said it told me that it was a sentence his mouth had become accustomed to forming.

"I'm sorry Miyagi-sensei…I don't know. W-we're still in T-Tokyo but…I'm sorry." I could hear my voice begin to shake. I was useless. Nothing I did could help anyone. A sob escaped my chest.

"Shhh…It's ok, tell me, is Shinobuchan alright?" I hung my head and felt another sob escaped. How dearly I wanted to answer in the affirmative to that question. But I couldn't, and I had no one else to blame but myself. Miyagi-san seemed to interpret the truth from my silence, and I heard a quiet sound of anguish come from the other end of the phone.

"Please…I need you to help us."

"Just tell me who has you, I'll call the police," This caught my attention and I jerked my head up.

"No! That will make it worst!"

"What are you talking about?"

"The police…they're…they're one of the clients,"

"Client's, what are you talking about?"

"Shinobuchan and I…and the rest of us, w-we… service older me." It felt horrid saying it out loud to a total stranger. Like I was finally confirming just how low I had fallen. I had said the words as quiet as possible, but I know he had heard, for there was a loud crash from beyond the earpiece.

"Miyagi-sensei?! Miyagi-sensei, are you alright?!"

"Yes, I'm fine." The voice was strained, as though just holding back an anger and hatred that wanted to be set free in order to wreak havoc on all who were around it. "So we can't go to the police. Well fuck. Just what exactly am I supposed to do?" I knew the question was directed more at himself more than me, but I answered anyways.

"I need to you call someone. He can help."

"Who!? Call who!?" I had to hold the earpiece away for a second; his voice was so loud and demanding.

"His name is Usami Fuyuhiko."

"The billionaire?"

"Yes, they have Usa-I mean, his son."

"I see…"

"Can you do it?" There was a moment of silence where I knew he was seriously considering it.

"Yes, I will."

"Thank you Miyagi-sensei. Please, hur-" Suddenly the phone was yanked from my hand and a giant fist wrapped itself around my wrist, yanking me into the air. The pungent smell of stale alcohol filled my nostrils and I felt all the blood drain from my face. I was dangling in the air now before the guard that just a second ago had been soundly asleep on the floor. My eyes widened as they took in the lecherous smile decorating the face of the newly awakened guard. I opened my mouth…

_And screamed. _

**I am so sorry for the late update. I know I said it would only be a day or two but I have a good excuse. I have been incredibly sick. In the past three weeks my asthma and allergies have decided to team together for a joint assault which over the last few days has intensified to the point where it was all I could do to breath. So thus, due to the fact that I have been hooked up to a nebulizer and could barely open my eyes, I have not been able to update. Please forgive me. **


	11. Chapter 11

**I think it gets pretty obvious in these chapters but in case you haven't noticed yet, I like adjectives!**

**Disclaimer: I also like Junjou Romantica but unlike adjectives, I don't own it. That doesn't even make sense.**

Miyagi held the phone in front of his face, a sick feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. He was suddenly overcome with the sensation of free falling. Things were moving too fast. It had been two months since Shinobu had disappeared without a sign. Daily calls to the police had told him they were finding nothing. No news every day had been painfully excruciating, but now the silence had been broken, and in the most horribly unexpected way.

He wasn't sure what to make of the phone call. He blamed the books he'd read for the horrible pictures now running through his mind of gruesome monsters and hideous trolls. Like the opening of a story, the phone call had opened a whole new world; except this was much more real and much more terrible it seemed than a piece of literature.

He slapped himself sharply on the cheek. He needed to break himself away from these ridiculous thoughts. His Shinobu-chin needed him. He recalled the way this Takahashi-kun had reacted to his question. Something had happened to Shinobu. Well, of course something had happened. Something had been happening for the past two months. But he knew something had changed. Something had happened to Shinobu-chin that had caused Takahashi-kun to call him out of nowhere. The sick feeling in his stomach intensified.

The professor turned to his laptop. He had been at his desk, typing up a test for his advance literature class. Wasting no time he quickly saved and closed the word document before bringing up a browser. And then half an hour flew by as he attempted to find a number that would connect him either directly or indirectly to Usami Fuyuhiko. But nothing was working and he was losing time. He needed the billionaire on the phone now! Struck by an unexpected thought and grasping for straws, he picked up the phone again and dialed his assistant. He had to wait until the fifth ring for the brunette to finally pick up, but eventually a low growling voice could be heard over the phone.

"Look Miyagi, it's past midnight, if you aren't going to at least try doing your work, then I am _not_ going to help you!"

"Kamijou, I need you to listen to me." It must have been the seriousness in his voice that made the younger man stay silent. "I need your help, and it isn't with any of my classes."

"What do you want?"

"I need a number that would let me talk to Usami Fuyuhiko. You're friends with his author son right? Please, I've been trying for thirty minutes and I'm running out of time."

"Why do you need it?" Miyagi almost screamed in frustration. He should have known he wasn't going to get it from the brunette easily but if just once in his lifetime, he wished his assistant wouldn't second-guess his requests. Every second counted. His lover was in danger and the temperamental man on the other end of the phone was his only hope of saving him.

"Look, I got this phone call ok? Apparently the people who captured Shinobu also captured this one boy, Takahashi-kun. He called me and said Shinobu was in trouble. He also mentioned Usamisan's son being there too." As soon as he had said this, there was a great crash from Kamijou's side of the phone. He could hear the voice of someone he guessed to be Kamijou's lover, then a muffled shout from the demon himself. The phone sounded like it must have fallen under a couch or something because it was a little while before the brunette's voice was no longer muffled.

"Wait, so you're telling me you've managed to figure out who has Akihiko?"

"If that's the name of Usami-san's son, then yes."

"Takahashi-kun didn't specify?"

"No, now will you help me?"

"Yes, I will help you, but while you call his father, I'm coming over."

"Alright, alright, just give me the number already."

"Yes, yes, here you go."

As soon as he got the number Miyagi, immediately slammed his hand on the phone jack before dialing the number.

It was another half an hour and a lot of repetitions of the words 'Akihiko' and 'kidnapped' before he was finally talking to the great CEO Usami himself.

"So, you've been working very hard to contact me. I hear you know something about my son. Can you tell me who this is?"

"Miyagi Yu, professor at M University. And yes, I do know something about the kidnapping of your son,"

"And what is it that you know?"

"You see, about an hour ago, I got a call from a Takahashi Misaki," A sharp intake of breath reached Miyagi's ears. "Do you know him?"

"I have made his acquaintance," When Usami didn't elaborate, Miyagi continued with his story.

"Well, the boy told me he had been kidnapped by some organization along with your son. The call was…interrupted before he could tell me more, but I'm sure someone of your status could track the number on my phone to find out where he called from." There was silence as the CEO considered this. The next thing that came was a sharp command.

"Give me your address. I'll be at your home with a team shortly."

As soon as he gave the address, the line went dead. Miyagi stared at the phone for a second before putting it back on its holder in disgust. He had always hated rich people like that but it seemed he was going to have to deal with this one just for a little longer if he ever wanted to get Shinobu back.

Misaki realized he must have blacked out for a few seconds because the first thing his addled mind registered was a sharp pain in his cheek. Whether it was through instinct or habit, he tried to throw his hands in front of his face for protection only to discover his wrist had been drawn over his head and were being restrained by a great weight. Blearily he blinked his one good eye opened until his fevered mind was able to focus on his surroundings, and as soon as he did, he wished he had stayed in the realm of unconsciousness.

There above him was the guard, the one he had awoken so foolishly from his harmless nap on the couch. And now the man, no longer occupied with dreams and sleep, wanted entertainment. And Misaki had the perfect, little, adorable, weak, fuckable body to provide the brute with his wishes.

A rough hand on his crotch made him realize that at some point his shorts had been removed and even though their coverage had been minimal, he found that he was suddenly missing them dearly. He felt vulnerable and helpless. He opened his mouth to let out another scream only to have a scrap of filthy cloth shoved into his mouth. The scratchy fabric against the back of his tongue made his throat convulse and despite his gagging, he could not dislodge it.

The hand had left his member now and when Misaki finally dared to look, he saw that it was engaged in undoing the man's belt. His eyes widened in terror before he squeezed them shut in a vain attempt to make it less terrible. But he should have known better. No warning was given before he felt a warm, wet, and slimy something glide up the flat plains of his stomach. He recognized it immediately as the guard's tongue and he attempted to pull his stomach in to escape the unpleasant appendage. He was rewarded only with a sharp pain from where the buckle of the belt connected with his hip.

The guard had managed to get himself out of his pants now and with no prelude his legs were forced apart and he was forcibly impaled. There was no warning, no preparation. He was being torn apart from the inside. He was screaming, though the noise was nothing more than a high pitched noise escaping through his nose. He was being torn apart, as if someone had shoved sandpaper up there. Each thrust sent him hard into the floor, and if it weren't for the rag in his mouth he would have bitten his tongue in two.

Frantically he tried to think of happy thoughts; to enter a world in his mind were the pain did not exist. It was a trick he had learned over the months he had been captive, but that took preparation. He had to know what was coming beforehand for him to be able to shut it out. It was too late now. The pain was too real. The throbbing in his back, the sharp stabs reaching all the way to abdomen, the waves of pain cascading from his hips. It was too much. Tears streamed from his eyes as he did the only thing he was able to do.

_He prayed. _

With all he had, he called out for help, although he knew deep down it was not coming. Before too long though he was unable to focus and it was all he could do to hold onto his sanity as he tried to both mental and physically prepare himself for the next thrust, then the next and the next and the next. Over and over again he felt the guard tear into him, filling him and stretching him far more than he was ever made to be. Everything else disappeared. There was only him, the man and the pain.

Suddenly it was like the first time he was taken. He remembered the writhing, the screaming, the waiting. Waiting for Usagi-san to come. Waiting for his lover to burst through the doors and claim back what was his. He had been so certain his rabbit would arrive to fetch him back home. When he hadn't, he remembered the feel of curling into himself shivering, trying to convince his mind that it had been a fluke and that next time Usagi-san would be there. Next time, Usagi-san would come to save him from the evil men. He had hated the feeling of being nothing more than a princess waiting for her knight to rescue her from the dragon, but there was nothing he could do.

Then the same thing had happened the next night, and the next, and the next. Each time, his savior had not been there to rescue him and each time he would convince himself that he would be there soon. And each time it had gotten harder. Each time it had taken more and more out of him, until he was sure that soon there would be nothing left. Finally, Usagi-san had come. It had turned out to only been for a short period though, merely a pause in the nightmare that made up his existence. Now he was back where he started. There was no Usagi-san. There was no knight. Only the dragon and princess were left.

When it was over Misaki couldn't move. It wasn't because of the pain that course through every fiber of his being, although that was a factor. It wasn't because of the stiffness that seemed to paralyze him and make even the movement of a finger excruciating. It was just that he didn't have the will to get up. To move. The return of Usagi-san had brought with it a brief illusion that he wasn't dirty; he wasn't used. For a brief period of time he was able to be the cute little innocent Misaki that Usagi-san saw him as, but now he remembered the truth. The dream he had been shattered and inside he had been revealed to be nothing more than a fragile china doll. Broken and thrown away.

He couldn't even find the will to cry. All he could do was lie there, staring with blank eyes at a fly making its way across the Styrofoam tiles of the ceiling. Absently he listened as the guard cracked open a beer and settled back on the couch. The voice of an announcer filled the quiet room as the tv was turned on once more and for a long while after, that was the only sound that reached Misaki's ears, punctuated once and a while by the occasional commercial break.

Misaki's mind began to wander and for a brief moment, he left the empty shell that his body had become as he began to wonder how his brother was doing. He wondered about his nephew. Children grow so quickly; he must be so big now. He realized with a jolt that he would never be able to see his nephew again. After all, how could he show his corrupted self to such an innocent child? Briefly, he remembered his literature teacher once mentioning something about the tragedy of the death of the innocent, but he couldn't remember the exact quote.

Eventually he realized that voices had over powered the sound of the baseball game. The converstaion reached him slowly and it took effort to make out through his fuzzy mind what they were saying. Eventually words began to form and he was able to make meaning out of sentences.

"-just let them track us here?"

"Sir, we couldn't stop them,"

"How long do we have till he arrives?"

"A few minutes." Figuring that none of what was being said affected him Misaki tuned out once more. He didn't think the new voices had noticed him yet, why that was though, he couldn't decipher, and he found that he didn't really care. His mind though did snap back to the present when a familiar silky smooth, yet distraught voice reached his ears and the teen almost gave himself a whiplash when he turned his head looking for the silver headed male he knew was the source of the distressed sound.

Usagi-san was standing in the doorway, over the desecrated door. Kintama was in front of him, red in the face and shouting at the five guards who had already entered the room. Misaki's eye, though, was zeroed in on the gun currently being pressed against the silver strands of Akihiko's head. An anxious gagged noise escaped Misaki's throat and the room went silent as all heads turned to look at him. In a flash, Akihiko had knocked away the barrel pressed up against his scalp and was taking long strides over to where the battered teen was laying on the floor. A shot rang out and blood exploded from Akihiko's thigh. Misaki screamed as his lover collapsed in front of him.

"Shhh Misaki, I'm alright," The author was bent over him now and pressing the fragile figure to his broad chest. He seemed to be taking no notice of the hole that the bullet had torn through his leg, despite the copious amounts of blood pouring from it. His face though, had become a shade paler and his eyes were a dark violet from holding back the excruciating agony of the gunshot, something Misaki didn't fail to notice. There was such gentle kindness in eyes too. The younger man couldn't help but see how, even in such a dire time with Kintama and a dozen men pointing guns at them, his eyes still managed to soften and at the same time tightened at the sight of Misaki's beaten, abused figure. Seeing the rag still stuffed between Misaki's jaws the author quickly pulled it out. After a few violent coughs Misaki was able to speak.

"Usagi-san, what's going on?" His voice was scratchy and weak. Akihiko opened his mouth to answer but was stopped by the return of the cold metal being pressed to the skin right above his ear.

"I'll tell you what's going on, darling. Someone in here has made a call to tip off your boyfriend's daddy dearest and now he's coming with all his horses and all his men in order to save his little prince. Which means the plan has gone awry and your lover is no longer useful to us." A dark chuckle echoed ominously in the suddenly silent room. Akihiko raise his head to look at the furious pimp whose gun was now pressed against his forehead. He smiled sardonically at his captor.

"You think my father won't come if I'm dead? Do you really think that my being alive won't be of some use to you? I'm positive my father won't attack as long as you've got your gun pressed against my still active brain, but as soon as my heart is silenced, you have nothing to stop him from wiping you off the face of the earth. If I die, _so do you_." Kintama's only response was to narrow his eyes and pointed the muzzle of his gun towards Misaki's chest. Akihiko's smile instantly vanished. "You pull that trigger and I bite my tongue so hard that I will drown in my own blood." The gun was instantly pointing back at him.

"Fine, you and your boy toy get to live but," In a flash the gun was pointing towards the nearest guard. A sharp explosion was the only warning the men got before the guard was falling back on the floor dead. "If you make one wrong move, you end up the same as him."

Akihiko's face retained the same stony expression throughout the whole exchange, but as soon as Kintama had turned away after assigning a different guard to maintain a steady watch over the couple, Misaki could see the relief and fear painted plainly in his older lover's eyes.

"Usagi-san, your le-"

"Shhh, not now." The rabbit's voice was no more than a murmur in Misaki's ears as he pulled his little beau closer to him. They remained there in silence, with Akihiko bent over until he was covering his uke entirely in his embrace, crouched on the floor. The rest of the guards seemed to have lost interest in the two as Kintama shouted orders at them in preparation for the coming of Akihiko's father. So they waited, silently wracking their brains, trying to come up with a way to get out of their dire predicament.

**I am so sorry for the late update. I know I said it would only be a day or two but I have a good excuse. I have been incredibly sick. In the past three weeks my asthma and allergies have decided to team together for a joint assault which over the last few days has intensified to the point where it was all I could do to breath. So thus, due to the fact that I have been hooked up to a nebulizer and could barely open my eyes, I have not been able to update. Please forgive me. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I just looked at the label on my jeans and they say 'boom boom'. So in honor of my boom boom jeans I shall dance in a circle, slap my thighs and sing about how I don't own Junjou Romantica.**

Shinobu didn't even flinch as the gun shot rang through the yard. His chin didn't lift, his face didn't turn. His eyes never stopped staring at the ground. In fact the only movement he made was to shuffle forward, following the line of battered and ragged boys as they were ushered back to their cages inside the giant warehouse of their prison. Vaguely, he wondered which poor soul had been deemed more trouble to keep alive than dead. He had become so used to losing friends without saying goodbye that it had scared him. It was frightening how quickly a person could lose their ability to feel.

It was only after the third shot, followed by an explosion, did he even bother raising his head and it was then that he was able to see the giant hole that had been blown in the solid metal fence that surrounded the yard. For the first time in weeks he was able to see the outside world and the view that greeted his eyes was of at least twenty large men garbed in heavy bullet proof vests, their faces concealed by visor helmets with hands full, carrying almost ridiculously oversized rocket launchers and machine guns.

**Shinobu POV**

My eyes widened in shock and fear, and my feet automatically propelled me backwards. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the other boys do the same, some even turning and running away. The guards around us stood frozen in the face of the approaching invaders, their Tasers and guns frozen in their grips, a shameful comparison to the heavy artilleries of the new pursuers.

Seeing my chance, I turned and ran. The others joined me, or at least those who could. If we didn't, the punishment for our attempt at escape would be severe this time. I watched as the boy in front of me, I think his name was Ichiro, fell face first onto the rough concrete, his legs too cut up and bruised to support his insignificant weight.

Moving as fast as I could, I grabbed his arm and hooked it over my neck so that I was able to wrap one of my own arms around his waist. A whimper told me I had accidentally grabbed his wounded ribs and I quickly adjusted my grip before shuffling forward, taking the boy along with me as best as I could. The next explosion made us both recoil.

The shouts behind us were quickly gaining in volume and I frantically accelerated my shabby attempts to increase our speed. In our haste, our legs became entangled and before I knew it, we were pitched forward and were destined to scrap the skin off the front of our faces if it weren't for the pairs of arms that wrapped themselves around our waists. I began to scream and thrash, desperate to get away as I felt myself being lifted off my feet and up against a man's chest. The man was shouting in my ear and I would have kept ignoring them if it weren't for the gloved hand that clamped itself over my mouth and the voice that bellowed in my ear.

"SHUT UP!" There was a moment of silence punctuated only by the sharp burst of artillery fire around us in which my captor waited to see if I was going to follow his command. Stupid really, as if I could make any kind of coherent noise with his paw jutted down my throat. "Calm now? Good. Tell me, how many of you are there?" He didn't specify what he meant by 'you' and he didn't remove his hand either. I only glared at him over my shoulder, being physically incapable of doing anything else. Eventually the idiot realized his mistake and smiling sheepishly, removed his hands.

"About time you bastard! Now let me go!" To my astonishment, I felt the firm grip on me loosen and felt myself being gently placed back on my feet. I could only look at him with my jaw fallen open in surprise. He gave me a look of apology before repeating his question.

"So, how many are there?" I stopped to think before beginning to tick off the names on my fingers.

"I think thirty." He gave me a nod before relaying my information into the headset I saw attached to his helmet. His attention returned to me. I was suddenly aware that Ichiro was being held in the arms of another helmeted man next to me. He had stopped struggling. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as the man nodded to the one in front of me and before I knew what was happening, I was being ushered towards the hole in the wall. I know it was stupid, but it was only as we had begun to approach the tear in the fence that I realized we were finally being set free.

**Miyagi POV**

I blinked and took a step forward. There he was… Just fifty feet away… He was thinner and messy, his blond hair filthy and matted against his head, his skin caked with grime. He was supporting another boy with a hand around his waist and one of Usami's mercenaries leading him with a hand on his back, but I wasn't looking at them. I had developed tunnel vision and my whole world had shrunk down to the teen in front of me slowly staggering his way forward step by step.

Before I knew what was happening, I was running forward, as fast as my legs could carry me, until I was directly in front of him where I abruptly slammed to a halt. The world had gone into slow motion… And yet… At the same time everything around me seemed to pass by far too quickly.

Shinobu lifted his head.

His eyes widened.

The soldier relieved him of the wounded boy.

And he was in my arms.

Underneath the stench of unwashed bodies and the stale alcohol, I could still smell him. His scent was sweet like I remember, and still contained its sharp citrusy tang, just as it always had. I buried my face in his hair and breathed it in. I didn't care about the dirt that caked his face or the bugs I could see crawling in the tangled blond mess. It was Shinobu. The real one. Not the one I would imagine seeing on the street corner or the one that ran away from me each night in my dreams. This was the real flesh and blood one, with tears I could feel soaking into my shirt were real tears and the arms I felt tightening around my neck were real arms.

He was saying my name now, over and over again, as if he, too, couldn't believe that this was really happening, and that I, too, wasn't some elaborate fantasy concocted by a lonely imagination. I wrapped my arms tighter around him. I would never let him go again.

**And there you go. Sorry for the shortness, but I figured Shinobu's and Miyagi's reunion should have its own chapter. In case you haven't noticed, I tend to separate chapters by the greatness of the even that happens in them. I feel like I should say I wrote this to go with some epic Within Temptation song or something, but to tell the truth it was written to the soundtrack of my teacher being enthusiastic about physics. He tends to make those equations very emotional. I mean, have you every cried over a the five equations of motion? I assume you're bored now, so why don't you stop reading and go onto some other fic. See you next time.**


	13. Chapter 13

Forlornly, my eye gazed up at the cold steel of the barrel pressed against my lover's temple. I refused to meet the man's amethyst gaze. It was my fault he was here. I wanted to cry and scream my displeasure. Like a spoiled child I wanted to roll around and bang my fist against the floor, demanding for Usagisan to be let free. But I was not a spoiled child, and I knew it wasn't going to be that easy. I needed that gun to go away, to leave. And I knew how that was going to happen.

Slowly, ignoring the screams of protest coming from my back and torso I hooked a hand around the back of Usagisan's neck and lifted myself up. He looked at me questioningly but didn't speak, although that was of no choice of his own. Adjusting to my position he curved his spine, bringing his face closer to my own.

I soon found that one arm wasn't nearly enough to support my weight and thus did not hesitate in bringing up the other one, pulling myself further into a sitting position against my rabbit's chest.

My lips found their way to his, and briefly I kissed him, darting my tongue out to brush against his lips, but not going any further. Instead, I moved my mouth to the left, traveling along his cheek to his ear where I began to nibble on the lob. The guard watch.

My left hand was practically beneath the barrel now, and like the metal cylinder, it was tangled in the silver stands of my boyfriend's hair. The guard could not see it, not that he was looking. Like all those employed by Kintama he was a pervert, and at that moment all his attention was focused on my mouth as I pleasured Usagisan, just like I intended.

I was almost touching the gun now. It was so close that I could practically feel its cold metal as it sucked the body heat from my already freezing fingers. So close. I dipped my tongue into the shell of my Akihiko's ear.

I prayed then. I prayed that what I was planning would work. I prayed that if it didn't and if…we both died, that Usagisan would forgive me in the afterlife. I prayed that there was an after life, so that if I failed, there would still be a chance for Usagisan and I to be together, whether it be not this world but the next. Funny, I'd never been particularly religious. If I was, then I would have probably been much more adamant about not giving into Usagisan's advances, since being gay was a sin and all. But now was not the time to think about the past, Now was the time to pray. Kintama was never going to let us leave alive. We had nothing else to do. Nothing left to lose. So I prayed.

And with that thought I acted. Lightning fast my hand shot up, grabbing the barrel of the gun and pointing it away from my boyfriend's head. There was a cry of surprised, and the barrel jerked like a wild animal as shots were fired from within. I saw guard across the room fall, crimson exploding from their bodies, but I did not turn my head to confirm it. Instead I yanked the weapon from the man's grasp and without hesitating pointed it at his chest and fired.

I don't know where all the energy for this came from, but somehow I was still holding on, despite the powerful kick I got to my upper arm from the recoil. Somehow though my arm didn't dislocate and before me lay a dead man, the hole I had punched in his chest seeping copious amounts of scarlet over the off white tile floor.

From my sitting position I turned and the gun fired again. Again a man fell, this time the hole in his stomach. I paid them no mind. Shot after shot I fired, bringing down man after man. The power I felt from it was not natural. With merely the twitch of my finger I was able to rob a grown man of his life. I was able to take away from him his future, his hopes, his dreams. These men would not be returning to their homes tonight. Never again would they see their families, their friends. And there was nothing any one could do to stop me. The power I possessed was thrilling. It was terrifying.

Usagisan's arms were tight around my waist, holding me up, supporting me. You would have thought he would have tried to stop me. That he wouldn't have wanted his boyfriend to become a murderer. But he too had realized. We had no choice. And so Usagisan held me, and I fired. When I ran out of bullets and nothing came from the weapon but a dull clicking, I found another machine gun being held out to me by a large pale hand. I took it without a word. And continued the slaughter.

The men around us had no time to react. I was a mindless killing matching, holding down the trigger, aiming where ever. The sound of the roaring I my head, consuming all my thoughts. They fell before me, like flies destined to perish at the days end. Soon though, there was no one left.

They were all dead. Blood covered everything around us. From the couch to the tv screen. It lay splattered carelessly across the wall in great streaks, its coppery stench filling my nose and making me gag. I dropped the heated metal of the gun to the floor and collapsed against the broad shoulder of my lover.

The adrenaline was gone. My task was finished and my rabbit was safe. There was nothing left for me to do. Slowly but surely my mind began to lose focus and my one remaining eye began to close.

"Usagisan?"

"…hmm?"

"Did I do good?" There was silence following my question. My eye was closed now and the world was black. As if from a great distance I heard Usagisan's voice.

"Yes Misaki. You did very well." I smiled as the arms around me tighten. And that was the last thing I remembered for a very long time.

**(Akihiko's POV)**

I held my Misaki close, not sure whether to cry or laugh out loud. He had done it. He had saved us. And in the course of it he had lost his innocence. It was dead. As dead as the corpses that layed around us, already starting in the process of decomposition. I couldn't help but think of John Milton's infamous quote. "Innocence once lost, can never be regained." I held my unconscious uke tighter and buried my face in his hair. Even Misaki's sweet vanilla scent could not over power the stench of slaughterhouse that hung in the air. Against my will, my mind continued the quote. "Darkness, once gazed upon, can never be lost." Slowly I felt my knees become wet from the blood slowly seeping onto the floor, forming a great crimson puddle around us.

Great shouts and the sounds of explosions were coming from outside, but I paid them no mind. Instead my ears were slowly becoming aware of a faint gurgle coming from near the doorway. Slowly, careful so as not to jostle my petite lover in any way, I rose and made my way over.

The sudden surge of hatred that rose up within me when my eyes fell upon the twisted form of Kintama, lying crumpled upon the tile, could not be described. I looked down at him from near his head; my eyes taking in the damaged Misaki had done to his **loathsome** form. Holes riddled his chest, abdomen, and legs, his knee caps entirely gone, much like his elbows and most of his hands. I could see the whiteness of his skull where the bullets had just grazed his head, tearing away the scalp and revealing what lay beneath. His eyes though were still open and looking closer, I saw that he had been shot in the neck, and despite this, he still was not dead. Like Hitler surviving forty two assassination attempts, this man was equally as tough to exterminate.

The gurgling it seems was coming from the hole in his throat. I watched in disgust as the blood bubbled up from the lesion. Like the front of his shirt, the whites of his eyes had also been dyed red, the swirling hues within them shifting as he pupils swiveled to look at me. And look at the limp form of Misaki I held in my arms.

Suddenly I did not want him to see. I did not want him looking at the fragile form of my love. Lifting my foot, I rammed it down with all the force I could on his face. The only response I got though was a slight twitching of the limbs and a slightly more furious gurgling. I was not enough. I hated this man. I hated this man with every fiber of my being. I hated him for every family he had separated and every future he had ruined and. I thought of Diasuke. Snatched from a bright future of graduating at Tokyo U where he had been working to become a brilliant chemist. Or Keisuke, the fastest high school runner in Tokyo, at the height of his career, only to have his legs shattered by the heavy blows that had been delivered during our punishment in the yard. I pressed my foot down harder upon the villain's face.

My mind began to run through every wrong that had been delivered to my Misaki. Everything, from the rape that had taken place not twenty minutes ago to the beatings, to the starvation, and abuse. I thought of the nine months he had had to go through of this monster. Nine months of having his beautiful angel wings trampled beneath cloven hooves. The weight of my foot increased.

And increased…

And increased...

Until finally something gave and the monster's brain splattered beneath my foot. I almost laughed aloud. I had forgotten I was wearing no shoes. They had been taken off by Misaki in his attempt to make me more comfortable as I had lain unconscious in the hotel room bed less than two or three days ago, although it seemed like a whole life time now. The blood and flesh that oozed between my toes only served to drive home my absence of footware, and I lifted my foot in disgust. I did not want any part of that man on me. Turning, I walked away.

**(Queue epic violins!)**

**(Hiroki's POV)**

Nowaki's face had lost its eternal smile. I myself felt like throwing up. How could any person or person's do this? How could they ruin all these lives willingly?

My gaze traveled over the wide concrete lot, taking in the fallen bodies of young boys and grown men alike. A wind picked up, blowing the hair from my face and carrying the smell of death to where I stood next to Nowaki. Slowly the clouds moved across the clear midnight blue sky, allowing for the moon to shine down, aiding the floodlights in illumination the atrocity that had happened in this hell hole.

The black shapes of Usamisan's private army moved among the bodies, carrying stretchers to those boys that were still alive and feeding bullets into the heads of the men in the same condition.

It wasn't over yet though. There was still the great shape of the warehouse looming above us. The thugs Usami had allowed to live told use that there were more of their fellow bastards inside ready to come at us at any second. I felt my lover's restraining hand on my arm, ready to pull me back at the first sign of danger. Behind us were parked three or four ambulances called here against Usamisan's wishes by my lover. Medic's swarmed around the injured who had been delivered to their care.

A shadow moved in the door to the warehouse and instantly the soldiers had their guns at the ready. One held a megaphone to his mouth and spoke into it.

"Come out with your hands in the air! Now funny business or we shoot!" There was no response until finally a gruff shout rang through the silence.

"I can't!"

"We demand that you come out with your hands up! Any resistance and we shoot!"

"I can't" There was silence on both sides now. The frown on my face deepened. Why wasn't the person coming out? Were they ok? Their voice sounded tired and raspy, but at the same time it contained an air of authority and power I almost recognized. Then it hit me. Shaking off Nowaki's hand I stepped forward and cupped my hands over my mouth and shouted.

"Akihiko? I that you."

"Hiroki?"

"Come out you idiot! What are you dawdling for? Come over here!"

"I can't! They'll shoot Misaki." I was in shock. Misaki? Wasn't that the boy Akihiko had been mourning over? Takahiro's little brother or something? I realized the soldiers still hadn't lowered their guns.

"Oi! What are you doing! Put those gun's down! Do you want to shoot the son of your boss?!" Instantly the weapons were lowered and as I watched a distant figure stepped from the shadows of the building. Spotlights caught on silver hair and we all watched as the tall man walked towards us, holding what looked like a boy in his arms, cradling the figure as if he where the most precious treasure in the world.

My eyes met those of violet and I was scared for a second by the intensity behind them. They only spared me a glance though before they moved to look at Nowaki who stood protectively behind me.

"You're a doctor, right?" Nowaki only nodded. Instantly a look of relief come over Akihiko's face. Like someone flipping a switch, revealing what lay inside. He held the boy in his arms out. "Please, help him."

His tone was pleading. Instantly we had the wounded figure on a stretcher, and oxygen mask strapped to his face with Nowaki examining his many abrasions. The second the boy was safely out of his arms though Akihiko collapsed against me. His weight was too great though and we both slid slowly down to the asphalt.

Lifting my hands from the man's body I was shocked at the blood that coated them. The red thoroughly soaked my skin, covering every inch in a sickly warmth. I stared at them in horror then stared at the silver head of my childhood friend. His eyes were closed and his breathing shallow. I was about to call out his name when suddenly strong arms pulled him away from my field of vision. I turned my head sharply, and watched as a pair of Fuyuhiko's mercenaries carried him to one of the stretchers and began to tear away his already ragged clothes. I couldn't move though. My eyes returned to my hands. I realized they were shaking. Suddenly two warm tan hands covered mine and a pair of strong arms circled me. My tremors gradually became less violent until they finally stopped.

"Shhh…Hirosan. It's going to be alright." I couldn't help myself from leaning back into the firm chest that was pressed tightly against my back.

"Shouldn't you be taking care of Misaki?"

"He had two other more experienced people taking care of him. I would just be in the way."

"There are others who need you though."

"Right now Hirosan, you are the one who needs me the most." I had nothing to say to that, and instead settled into my boyfriend's firm embraced.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't care.**

**Hiroki's POV**

It was only when the leader in charge of Usami-sama's private army gave the all clear did I gather the courage to enter the insides of the ware house. I didn't know why I did it. Curiosity maybe? That sounded as good as any reason as anything else I could come up with. After all, humans have been questing after knowledge for centuries, how was this any different? All I wanted to do was understand, or attempt to understand, what had happened.

Nowaki was behind me when we walked through the small metal doors into the florescent-lit interior. It was almost morning now but the sun had yet to show itself over the horizon and the spotlights were still outside. This murky light was still enough to see by.

Funny, it wasn't the sight of rows upon endless rows of chain-linked metal that first hit me and made me realize where I was. It was the smell. Like a barn, but without the warmth of the animals and the sweet scent of hay. No, the scent that invaded my nose was of excrement and decay, under toned by sweat and alcohol. The scent that comes from too many animals being packed in to too small a space. It was only then that I realized what the setup of the fences reminded me of. We were looking at cages, hundreds and hundreds of cages. I took a shaky step back.

Nowaki realized what was going on the same second I did and instantly he was behind me, supporting my body as the strength fled from my limbs. My bravado had disapeared.

"Hiro-san, we should leave."

"Y-yeah…"

We didn't need to be here. Leave the cleanup to the professionals, people used to seeing this darker side of humanity. As we turned to flee though, ignoring the dark shapes of the soldiers walking by us, my eyes caught a flash of scarlet, and I turned my head. _I froze_. I had found the source of the scent of decay.

Besides us, not ten feet away was a small room with a big window cut into one of its walls facing out towards the warehouse interior. It was sparsely decorated. Only the essentials, couch, tv, fridge, etcetera. Everything inside it though, from the walls to the ceiling fan, was stained a screaming bright crimson. _The floor of the room was littered with the dead._

I was losing focus. My head began to reel and bile rose up in my throat. Hurriedly, I pushed past Nowaki and out the door, listening to it slam shut behind me but otherwise paying no attention to it as I was too busy bending over double and wrenching out my guts onto the asphalt. _My bones had turned to ice; I was cold. So unbearably cold._

Large warm hands were on me now, pulling my hair back and rubbing smooth circles over my back. It seemed to take forever for the heaving to stop but eventually it did and I was upright once more being held in the solid embrace of my lover. For once I didn't care if anybody saw. I needed Nowaki right now, just as he needed me.

**Misaki's POV**

The first thing I had become aware of was the blinding brightness scorching my face and causing me to squeeze my one good eye shut, in pain. It didn't help though. The light was still there. I turned my head, a vain attempt at escape but that only made me aware of my body. In a biting realization, it made me aware of the pain again.

Burning. I was burning. From the inside and out I was being consumed. Everything hurt. Every fiber of my body was on fire. The pain was a living, breathing creature, overriding me and making me its own. I opened my mouth to scream but the air traveling down my throat hurt, like someone had shoved a file down there and begun to scrape. Breathing was painful, yet I couldn't stop myself from taking in big gulps of air, my body still desperately trying to stay alive, even after all this time.

Through the haze of pain I was able to distinguish a sharp prick to the inside of my arm, followed by a cooling sensation in the area, like someone had thrown a wet blanket over the inferno. The coldness began to spread and presently I was able to open my eye again.

I was in a room with a Styrofoam ceiling. _Like the office_. I quickly squeezed my eye shut again. Was I back there? Had everything just been a dream? Was the pain I was feeling before from just another customer and not the product of straining my body beyond its limits in order to save my lover? Had Usagi-san never come?

I turned my head as I felt tears prick the inside of my closed lid. Of course it was. It was just a nightmare. Usagi-san wasn't coming for me. No one could save me from Kintama's organization. I was still just a toy left to be played with by middle aged men.

This time when I opened my eye, I had to blink a couple of times before registering what I was seeing. There was some one leaning over me, the light shining brightly behind them so that I couldn't see anything but their silhouette.

"Usagi-san." My mouth was dry, my words coming out as nothing more than a croak.

"Usagi-san? I'm not a rabbit." I froze. It wasn't Usagi-san. There was a man bending over me and it wasn't Usagi.

Instantly I was moving, scrambling to get me feet beneath me, to push myself away, to escape from the danger. My breath was coming ragged and my heart beat speeding up at an alarming rate.

"Misaki? Misaki! Calm down!" It took me a few seconds to register the voice calling my name but eventually I tore my eyes away from the stranger bending over my bed. My head turned in the direction of the familiar voice.

"Shinobu-chan?"

"Yes, Misaki, it's me. Now calm down." Under the strict voice I could distinguish the tone of worry and gentleness I would always associate with my friend. As my heart rate went down, I began to look around for the first time. I was in a hospital. Shinobu was in a wheelchair. The surface I was lying on was a bed, one of many set up in a row, all of them, like mine, containing my fellow captives. I looked down at the IV needle in my arm before returning my stunned gaze towards Shinobu. For the first time since I had met him, the blond was smiling.

"Shinobu, are we-?"

"Yes, Misaki. It's over." Icouldn't return his smile yet though. Something vital was missing. Something important, more important than the air I was dragging into my starving lungs.

"And Usagi-san. Is he…?" I couldn't go on with my heart in my throat.

"He's fine Misaki. He just got put in a different room because his father donates so much to the hospital." Hearing this, I instantly relaxed. Everything was ok. For the first time in nine months everything was ok. The nightmare was over. I suddenly became aware of the ache in my cheeks that one got from smiling too widely.

**Akihiko's POV (A few hours before Misaki's)**

Misaki wasn't here. I was in my own private room, with my own private nurse, and my own private tv set. _And Misaki wasn't here_. I wanted to scream in frustration. Instead, I glared daggers at the nurse as she wheeled in my lunch on a stainless steel cart.

"Here you go Usami-sensei! Abalone and caviar, just for you." She stopped next to my bed and looked at me expectantly. I remained silent. "Aren't you going to eat Usami-sensei?" More silence. Her voice was giving me a headache, "Please eat Usami-sensei, your suffering severe malnutrition right now and you need the protein." Finally, I decided to open my mouth, although I knew she was already aware of what I wanted.

"Bring me Misaki." The edges of her perfect smile began to droop before she caught herself and returned to her former perkiness.

"Please Usami-sensei. I've been given specific instructions that you are not to see him." Oh, this was a first. Usually they just ignored my adamant requests.

"And why not?"

"I wasn't told. He just told me not to let you see him." I gave her a sardonic grin. So there was a _he _huh? Ten to one it was my father, once again protecting me from 'losing my happiness'. I switched tactics.

"If you bring him to me I'll eat my lunch."

"I'm sorry Usami-sensei. I can't do that."

"I'll eat my dinner too."

"I'm sorry."

"I'll buy you a diamond necklace."

"I'm really very sorry Usami-sensei."

"I'll buy you a pony."

"Really Usami-sensei I can't"

"A trip to the Bahamas?"

"I'm sorry."

"Your own private island?"

"Look I-"

"Akihiko! Stop harassing the hospital staff!" my charming smile instantly turned to an expression of intense displeasure as I looked over at the room's newest occupant.

"Not Misaki."

"No I'm not Misaki! Get over it!" I skillfully dodged the flying paperback, which had somehow made its appearance in Hiroki's hand, my instinct stemming from years of acquaintance with the 'demon professor.' The nurse behind me was not so fortunate.

"Oww!"

"Aw, Hiroki, now look what you've done. As penance you should go get Misaki and bring him to me."

"Would you shut up about Misaki?!"

"No."

"Akihiko…!" His tone was one of warning. Valuing my life, I quickly closed my mouth. Hiroki brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, a sure sign that he was getting a headache.

"Look, if you want to be with your boy toy so much, I'll ask Nowaki to bring him in here, but in the meantime, can you please behave?"

"Do you _promise_ to bring Misaki here?"

"Yes, I promise to bring Takahashikun here." Hiroki's tone was beyond exasperated.

"Pinky promise?"

"EAT YOUR LUNCH!" Which is exactly what I did, all the while watching the nurse as she tried to keep poor Hiroki from pulling out his hair. Sometimes I wonder why he still hung around me.

Presently, lunch was finished and taken away by the nurse whose name I never caught, her presence being replaced by Hiroki's boyfriend who was apparently on break. After explaining my predicament in the briefest terms possible, he turned to leave.

"Wait, Hiroki, you stay here." He directed one of his wary scowls in my direction.

"Why?"

"I need you as hostage in case Kusama doesn't come back." All I ended up getting though was a bump on the head before I was once more left alone to twiddle my thumbs and worry about my lover. Which was _exactly_ what I did, minus the thumbs.

How was Misaki doing? Had he woken up? Was he alright being alone? Misaki had always been nervous around strangers; I hated to think what he was like now, after having to go through that living nightmare. And what if he hadn't woken up? What if he didn't wake up ever again? Oh, god…

Firmly, I stopped that train of thought. It was getting me nowhere. Instead I turned my attention to the tv, and began to surf channels until finally settling on Doraemon, watching at the blue earless cat went about his happy life. Sometimes, I wished life was a kid show where the bad guy turned out to just be severely misunderstood and everything was friendship and rainbows in the end. However, I realized then, they never had sex on in kid's shows, and I decided to revise my wish a little bit. I wouldn't be able to survive if I couldn't get my refill of Misaki on a regular basis.

Except, that wasn't going to happen for a long time. For nine months Misaki had been raped over and over again. Not only was he not physically capable of engaging in the activity, there was no way he could be mentally able either. More likely than not, it would be at least a year before the next time I saw my Misaki once more sprawled out beneath me, moaning my name.

That train of thought was also going to have to be stopped in its track or risk arriving at the station fully prepared for action. I was going to have to force the thought of sex from my mind for the present. A melancholy sigh escaped my lips as I pondered what else I could think about to pass the time.

I wondered when we would finally be able to leave the hospital. I felt myself cringed at the thought of Misaki's reaction once he saw the mess in our apartment. For yes, it was 'our' apartment once more, not just mine any longer. The thought brought a smile to my lips. I was going home and this time I would be taking Misaki with me.

There was a knock on my door and before I could answer, it was swung open and one of those hospital beds was pushed through.

"Misaki!"

"Usagi-san?!"

"Misaki! How are you?! Are you ok?! Does it hurt anywhere?! Where have you been?!"

"Akihiko! Get back in bed before you break your neck!" Hiroki had come in behind the bed, helping Kusama wheel in the IV and other medical supplies. It was only after his shout that I realized I was already half way off the bed, held back only by the cast they had put around the gunshot on my leg.

"Usagi-san, be careful. I'm fine." At the first sign of Misaki's distress, Kusama was in action.

"Calm down, Takahashi-kun. We don't want to tear any of your stitches."

"STITCHES?! Where?!" I was immediately back to clambering my way out of bed, cast or no cast.

"Get back in bed Usagi-san! I'm all right! Nothing more than a few scrapes." I directed my glare at Kusama.

"Tell me what's the matter with him!"

"Look Usami-san, if you would just calm down-"

"SHUT UP!" All eyes in the room turned to the fuming professor standing in the middle of the room with fist clenched and ready to punch the next person who opened their mouth, stitches or not. Silently, Kusama wheeled Misaki around his furious lover, my own uke shrinking into the mattress as he passed by the demon. Finally, Hiroki bent to pick up the book he had tossed at my head a little while ago and we all took that as a sign we could once again open our mouths. Kusama leaned down to grab the clipboard at the end of Misaki's bed.

"So, besides a large number of bruises and scrapes, Takahashikun has twelve stitches, a fractured tibia, clavicle, and several shattered metacarpals, along with a sprained wrist and formerly a dislocated hip. Also, he has several broken ribs but luckily they have caused no internal damage and have been taped up."

"Yeah, lucky." I couldn't keep out the sarcasm that dripped from my voice.

"See Usagi-san, I'm fine. Now tell me how you are?" I looked over at Misaki's face, taking in his expression. He seemed desperate to keep up the happy façade, so smiling, I stretched out a hand to rub his head affectionately, all the while being sure to go slowly so as not to scare him. I could see that he was still nervous and tense, flinching at the littlest things, and I wanted him to relax as much as possible.

"I'm doing fine Misaki. Besides my leg, the worst I've got is a few bruises and a minor concussion." Misaki turned to Kusama who immediately confirmed this with a nod, his eyes having moved onto my clipboard. Immediately Misaki's eyes crinkled in the must adorable fashion as his smile widened. Leaning forward, I planted a quick kiss on his forehead, before drawing back and watching with pleasure as his cheeks bloomed a bright pink.

"Alright. Now that everything's settled, I will need some of your blood Takahashikun," He held up a syringe, "Just for some tests." Misaki held out his good arm obediently.

"Um…what are you testing for?"

"STD's along with other things." We were all silent. I flinched as I saw the needle enter my uke's skin. He himself was perfectly still, although it looked more like he was paralyzed from fear than he was just trying to cooperate. Finally, Kusama opened his mouth to make an observation. "Takahashi-kun, do you get this done a lot? You're very good at sitting still." To my surprise, Misaki lowered his head to look away.

"Y-yeah, we had it done to us a lot. K-Kintama was always testing us for STD's. He d-did want to have a lawsuit in c-case we gave the c-customers anything. S-so I should be clean. Unless that guard…" Despite the contents I couldn't help but feel relief upon hearing this. Having my Misaki suffer any more because of that monster's evil actions make me want to tear my eyes out along with anyone else's' in the vicinity. He was looking at me, a nervous smile on his lips, as if asking if I was ok. I tried to return his smile with a more reassuring one of my own, but I didn't think it worked because he quickly turned away.

"Misaki, I-"

"There, done." The syringe was withdrawn and Kusama began to make his way towards the door. "Usamisan, your nurse will be back in a little while to make sure everything is ok. Takahashi-kun, I'll be sending in some one for you too, but in the mean time, don't move around too much, ok?" Misaki nodded his confirmation and with that Hiroki and his lover left, the door shutting softly behind them. Misaki turned to me.

"Usagi-san, ar-"

"Wait a second." Between our beds, there was still a few inches gap but between us was a space of at least a foot. Not acceptable in the least. Hoisting myself up, I carefully maneuvered my body, taking care to avoid any of Misaki's injuries, and settled myself down next to my lover. I placed a hand on his head, really the only place I could touch without causing him any further pain, and pulled him towards me until he was slumped sideways against my chest. Together we leaned back into the pillows and after some shuffling, made ourselves comfortable. "Now tell me. What did you want to say?"

"Usagi-san, I'm sorry for mentioning Kintama and the guard, I know you don't like it and-"

"Nope, wrong. That is not what I want to hear right now. We will not mention that man anymore. You are going to lie here quietly and watch Doraemon while I tell you how much I love you and about how much fun we're going to have when we finally go home."

"Why Doraemon?"

"Because it has a happy ending."

"Oh." I felt him relax into me more. I couldn't help but smile fondly when he rested his cheek into the crevice made by the joining of my chest and arm. It had always been his favorite thing to do when we sat like this. Some things never change. Thank god.

"I love you Usagi-san." I looked down at him in shock.

"Just what kind of pain killers did they put you on anyways?" He pouted the cutest pout I had ever seen.

"What, I'm not allowed to say it but you are?"

"It's not that you're not allowed to say it. It's just that you never say it with out at least some resistance."

"Well, I'm saying it now!" I chuckled.

"I love you too Misaki, more than anything in the world." He was blushing so hard now his whole face had turned tomato red. He hid his face under my arm.

"Usagi-san."

"Yes?"

"I-I'm sorry t-that my body…isn't p-pure anymore." I knew what he meant. True, one of the charms of Misaki had been that he had formerly known no other touch but my own. Nevertheless, in my eyes he was still my pure little Misaki, no matter what anyone else had done to his body.

"Shhh, Misaki, I don't care about that. I loathe the idea of those bastards touching a single one of your beautiful hair, but I know it wasn't your fault. Once we get home I'm going to make your forget all that. Just you wait."

"Thank you Usagi-san."

"You're welcome, Misaki. Now, watch Doraemon."

**I'm really sorry for the delay in updates, but it honestly wasn't my fault. I'm writing these on a school computer at the moment and the stupid school district likes to put up website blockers. I haven't been on my email/facebook/FFN in ages! It just got lifted though so I'm updating as much as I can before they put it back on again.**

** In other news, since this fic is almost ended (Two more chapters!) I'm going to be starting a new one. It's called On Wings of Steam. I couldn't help but notice the distinctive lack of steampunk on this website so I figured I should cure this sad infliction as best I can. Also as a student of history I know more about the Victorian age than modern day problems and other such stuff. Or am I the only one who thinks this fic is just getting more and more unrealistic? Anyways, look forward to it.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: Not mine. Same old same old.**

**Warning: Homophobia and extreme O. courtesy of Misaki.**

**Akihiko POV**

It was around dinner time when Shinobu finally came to visit, wheeled in by a tall, dark-haired stranger. Misaki had fallen asleep about an hour ago and was still curled up by my side, snoring softly. I looked down at him, then back at the blond in the wheel chair.

"How is he?"

"O.K. He could be better, but he's doing well despite the circumstances." Shinobu nodded his understanding. I turned to the stranger. "I don't think we've been introduced."

"Miyagi Yoh. Shinobu-chin's…mentor." I smirked.

"You're his lover." Instantly Shinobu was blushing bright enough to rival my Misaki's infamous tint. Miyagi though was glaring at me suspiciously, as if challenging me to take Shinobu away from him. I knew the feeling.

"Usagi-san, leave Shinobu-chan alone." I looked down, my gaze meeting that of the sleepy uke. His hazy emerald eye glared at me in annoyance.

"I'm sorry Misaki. Did I wake you?"

"Yes." I smiled at his frankness and planted a kiss on his forehead. An annoyed cough came from Shinobu's direction.

"How are you doing Misaki-chan?" My brunette nuzzled the side of his head against my chest as he answered. I could tell from his voice that he was still half asleep.

"I'm on so many painkillers I really can't tell you truthfully. Is this Miyagi-san?" Shinobu nodded smiling widely. Misaki turned his gaze to the dark-haired man.

"Are you Takahashi-kun?" Misaki nodded, his eye half lidded in exhaustion.

"You have no idea how grateful I am towards you Takahashi-kun. It's thanks to your phone call that everyone is here right now."

A sleepy, "Oh," was the only response he got. I looked at the man with a puzzled expression.

"Phone call?" Misaki snuggled into me until he was safely tucked under my arm. I like him half asleep I decided. He was adorable. Like a small kitten.

"I stole one of their iPhones and called Miyagi-san. I was going to call Usagi-chichi but I didn't know his number. Miyagi-san said he would take care of it though, or at least I think he did. Our call was interrupted when the guard woke up and he-" His emerald eye suddenly grew wide before he was hiding his face in my side. I tightened the protective arm I had wrapped around his good shoulder and used my other hand to gently stroke his hair. For a time his breath was ragged, but after a long silence it began to even out until once more it slowed down to the familiar rhythm that told me he was asleep. Miyagi watched all this, and I saw from his eyes that he had come to a understanding.

"Come on brat. Let's go."

"Shut up, old man." A quiet argument ensued as I silently watched the two leave the room.

We lay there a while longer in peace, no more visitors coming through the door to interrupt our rest. Despite the fact that after the long separation I relished every second I had with Misaki, I must have dozed off because the appearance of our next visitor gave me a shock.

"Usagi-chan? Are you awake?"

"…Takahiro?"

"Yay! Usagi-chan? Are you doing ok? And Misaki! Oh, poor Misaki!" I held up a hand to halt Takahiro's almost head first dive towards his brother.

"Takahiro, calm down. He's fine. He just needs to sleep." The spectacled man instantly relaxed. I realized with a shock that tears were falling behind the glasses.

"Takahiro, are you crying?" His hand came up to wipe away the briny liquid.

"I-I'm sorry. It's just…there he is. A little worse for wear, but…h-he's alive." The last words were spoken in a reverent tone as if this miracle had been delivered by the angels themselves. Which I thought, it might as well have been a celestial gift. I ran my fingers through his chocolate locks and he sighed against my chest, his breath gently fluttering one of the ties on my hospital gown. Takahiro was looking at us in confusion.

"He's ok right? I mean…w-when he wakes up…he'll still be the same Misaki. R-right?" I smiled sadly at my former love.

"He's changed."

"Oh."

"It will be his job to figure out if it's for better or for worst though." Takahiro nodded, whipping the last of his tears away.

"But Usagi-chan, how are you doing." My smile widened dramatically.

"To tell the truth, despite everything, now that Misaki's back, I couldn't be better." He perked up at this.

"Really?" He was silent for a few second while he face arranged its self into one of hesitation and nervousness. He seemed to be debating something in his mind. Finally though he appeared to reach a decision and opened his mouth once more to speak.

"I've…um…I've been wondering this since Misaki was… taken. Well, I mean, it wasn't really my idea. I-I wouldn't have thought of it at all if Minami hadn't mentioned it but-" He was frantic now, waving his hands and rushing his words. I looked at him sternly and kept my voice firm, yet still gentle.

"Takahiro, take a deep breath and tell me what it is you want to ask?"

"Well, it's just…um…what is your relationship with my brother?"

**Misaki POV**

My eyes snapped open at the sound of my brother's question. He's figured us out. He's figured us out and now he was going to separate us, and I'm going to have to go live with him in Osaka, and I'm never going to see Usagi-san again! It was only when Usagi-san's arm around me tightened to an almost painful extent did I realize I wasn't breathing. I was paralyzed with fear. Thank goodness I had awoken with my face pressed to Usagi-san's chest so Nii-chan couldn't see that I was listening.

"Usagi-chan? Are you alright? You look a little pale," The body I was pressed against gave a little chuckle, which sounded false to my ears, but I guess Nii-chan didn't notice. Or maybe I was just imagining it?

"I'm fine, Takahiro. I've always been this pale. And Takahiro, when I say this, I want you to realize I'm the most serious I have ever been with you, no, more serious than I have ever been in my life." He took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling beneath me. "I love Misaki." A stunned silence followed his words. I don't think Nii-chan really expected to get so straight forward an answer. My heart was hammering so loudly in my ears that I almost missed Nii-chan's reply.

"L-love, as in…"

"Yes. As in I would marry your brother if it were legal." I have to give Usagi-san credit for not flinching when I accidentally dug my fingers into his chest upon hearing this. Slowly I unclenched the fist I had balled into his chest. The arm Usagi-san had draped around me had become nothing short of a steel vice.

"A-and d-does he know?" Poor Takahiro. He wasn't ready for this yet. Heck, I wasn't even ready for this yet. What was Usagi-san thinking?

"He knows."

"I'm sorry Usagi-chan. It must be very awkward."

"Awkward? Not at all."

"Well if not for you, then for Misaki. It must be very awkward to know your landlord is in love with you. Are you alright Usagi-chan? It must be very painful, at least. I heard unrequited love can be like that." This time Usagi-san and I flinched at the same time.

"No, you're mistaken, I-"

"I love him." The room fell silent as I turned to face my brother. "I love him very much." I looked him straight in the eye. He needed to know that I was serious. Takahiro was frowning.

"Have you considered this Misaki? You're very young. You still have time to find a girl and settle down with a family. Don't let Usagi-san hold you back." Once again we both flinched at my brother's unintentionally cruel words.

"Nii-chan. I love him. I'm not going to find a girl. I already have my family." Takahiro was getting angry, but then again, so was I.

"Don't be silly. How can you know you love him? You're only nineteen."

"How can I know I love him? Nii-chan, I just spent nine months having my ass ripped into daily. I was starved and beaten. I lost my fucking eye. Do you know how I survived? Do you know how I got through each grueling day without trying to just end it all?! Well?! Do you!?" I hadn't realized I was shouting so loudly. Usagi-san had his arms around me, as if to hold me back, while Takahiro was visibly cringing from his position across the room.

"Misaki, you don't know what you're saying, you-"

"Shut up! You're the one who doesn't know what you're saying! I'll tell you the reason I am right here right now, in this hospital room, on my way to recovery. It was because of Usagi-san! It was the thought of this man which got me through each night! It was the knowledge that he would come for me! It is the memory of his face that allowed me to keep my sanity even after seeing my friends being beaten to death before my eyes! I have killed for Usagi-san! And you tell me I don't love him!?" I was hyperventilating now, the world too bright, the room moving too fast.

"Misaki! Misaki, calm down!" Usagisan's arms were pulling me back now, cradling me against his chest, stroking my hair. His lips were against my ear, cooing soothing words of love and comfort. But my anger wasn't dying, and my breathing kept becoming more and more labored.

"Misaki, you-" He was cut off by my lover's commanding voice. There was no gentleness behind his words now.

"Takahiro, I think you better leave."

"But I-"

"NOW!" Faster than I could blink my brother was out of the room and Usagi-san was jamming his fist against the button that would summon the nurse. I wasn't paying attention though. Something in the back of my mind told me I was having a panic attack, but at the moment all I could focus on was drawing enough air into my lungs to breath. Even through the haze created by the pain killers I could feel the sharp pain of my cracked ribs as I strained to fill my chest with the much needed oxygen.

Suddenly Usagi-san's lips were on mine, his tongue finding its way into my mouth in an almost violent manner. We moved against each other with a fierce passion. My body responded instinctively to his touch even before I had mentally registered what he was doing. Even while my lips continued to move at a frenzied pace, my body relaxed at the familiar sensation, and when he eventually drew away, the panic attack had subsided. When the nurse finally arrived I was back to normal. Still she insisted on taking my pulse and inserted another needle attached to an IV bag full of sedatives into my arm to add to the collection of drugs I was already ministered for. After what seemed like an eternity, she left.

"I don't want you to worry." I looked at him quizzically.

"Worry?"

"About Takahiro. He'll come around eventually." I didn't answer. "Misaki?"

"Be quiet. I'm still mad." He chuckled again, although to my relief this was one of true mirth and not the forced one from before.

"You're so cute," I turned my face back into the rumpled cloth of his hospital gown, though it apparently did little in hiding my blush. "Aww, what happened to my brave little Misaki of before? Are we back to shy Misaki now?" His statement sent a sudden shiver of fear down my spine.

"Do y-you not like 'shy Misaki'. Do you-" A hand across my eye halted my sentence in its tracks.

"Shhh, I love all my Misaki's."

"But which one do you like mo-" This time I was silenced by hands on either side of my face clamping my jaw shut and lifting my chin up so that I was forced to meet Usagi-san's gaze. For a few seconds, I was lost with in swirling amethyst depths before blinking and forcing myself to focus despite through the pain meds.

"Misaki, I love all of you equally. Even when you are yelling at me furiously about my latest Akikawa novel, I love you. I love you so much that sometimes I think my heart will explode from the great amount of love being stored in there, but then I just end up being proven wrong and caring about you even more. Do you understand? Every part of my Misaki is precious, all the way from the silky strands of your chocolate locks to your cute little pinky toes. Understand?" I nodded, unable to say anything for the lump that had formed in my throat. One of Usagi-san's slender fingers came up to brush under my eye. When it came away I was somehow not surprised to see the small crystal like tear that trembled on the tip of his nail. A few inches were all he needed to move forward before his lips were there, replacing the finger in the removal of the salty liquid. I snuggled closer when he finally pulled away, tucking my face back into the firm lines of his chest.

"Usagi-san…"

"Hmm?"

"I love you too, even when you grab me first thing after waking up in the morning, or when you put me in one of your trashy novels, or when you won't eat your green peppers, or when I have to clean the marimo tank, or when you make me your super-deluxe-ultra-fluffy omelet, or-"

"Alright, I think that's enough. I get your point," I leaned forward to reach up slightly and give him a quick peck on the lips, before quickly returning to my original position when my stitches began to scream out their objections. I felt Usagi-san's nose above me burying itself into my hair. I closed my eyes and basked in the warmth I could feel coming from his large frame. Inside I laugh at the thought that I used to think he was cold. He wasn't cold.

Those business men, in their starched collars and loosened ties were cold. The concrete floor of the warehouse where I slept every night for more than a month was cold. Usagi-san wasn't cold. Usagi-san was warm, burning even, burning the fleshes off my skin, burning away all memories of their touch with nothing but his presence. He seared me all the way to the bone, scorching me until I was a pure, solid black. His was a fire that engulfed me and guarded me against all who would intend harm.

While I was away he had been nothing more than a small fire in the distance, out of sight but not out of mind. He had been a reminder of how things could have been if I hadn't decided to go grocery shopping on that particular day. When I had seen him walk into the hotel room, a sight that had shocked my heart into stillness, the fire had drawn closer, increasing in its size and heat. And now I was here, in my hospital bed, surrounded by a blazing flame, providing me with more warmth and happiness than I could ever ask for. I sighed and relaxed further against his chest; my ear centered over his heart, listening to it beat out a rhythm that would eternally be in sync with my own.

**Ok I lied. There will be two more chapters after _this_ one. And then onto my new baby, On Wings of Steam. Release the airships!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Junjou Romantica…No wait! I lied! Do do own Junjou Romantica and I've locked Misaki in my closet!**

"Usagi-san? Why is the carpet stained?" A visible flinch came from the silver haired man standing in the kitchen.

"So Misaki, what kind of tea do you want?"

"Usagi-san, you can't make tea to save your life. Why _is_ the carpet stained?"

"Suzuki-san did it." Emerald eyes landed on the giant stuffed bear sitting placidly on the couch. It had been almost three months since the day of confrontation with Takahiro in the hospital and Misaki had finally been given leave to return home. Akihiko had of course been overjoyed, calling the cleaners to his apartment a week before hand from his hotel room near the hospital. He of course, having suffered less serious wounds got out before the brunette teen, but the idea of entering the flat once more without his Misaki by his side had been too depressing so thus he had been staying in a hotel for the past month. Naturally Misaki had complained about the unnecessary expenses but secretly he love the idea of Akihiko being only a minute or two away.

The teen stared from his position in his wheelchair down at the ugly yellow stains disfiguring the carpet around the couch. An unpleasant aroma rose up from the carpet making him wrinkle his nose in disgust. If he could he would have gotten up and grabbed the cleaning supplies from the closet, but sadly he couldn't due to the casts firmly encompassing both his legs.

"Usagi-san, it smells horrible here! What did you do?" A pair of long arms wrapped themselves around the pale boy's narrow shoulders. Misaki flinched and Akihiko cursed internally. Even after three months together, sudden moves and surprise touches still scared the teen. Luckily though, his reactions weren't nearly as violent as they had been a few weeks ago. Still, at the moment, no one was allowed to touch him except Usagi-san and a few nurses at the hospital. A particularly violent hour had been spent calming him down and getting him sedated when one of the female nurses had fallen ill and an unfamiliar male nurse had taken her place. All it had taken was one touch to set off the PTSD and before anyone could react, the teen was half way across the room, the IV's along with several pieces of expensive machinery hurdling towards the clueless man.

The author had become very adapt over the past months at changing bandages and dealing with medication along with maneuvering Misaki's wheelchair. Honestly, he should have been out of it by now, but the months spent in captivity had left him severely malnutrition, making it take almost twice as long for him to heal.

"Usagi-san! Why aren't you answering?"

"Because I don't want to,"

"And why not?"

"Why don't you ask Suzuki-san?"

"Uuuuusaaaaaaagiiiiiii-saaaaaan…"

"Nope, not going to answer,"

"You stubborn bastard!"

"But you love me anyways,"

"Fine, have it your way." Akihiko's head dipped down and he planted a kiss on Misaki's unsuspecting cheek. A blush immediately erupted beneath the teen's translucent skin. However, that didn't stop him from tilting up his chin to give Akihiko better access to his lips. The elder smirked before accepting the invitation.

The kiss though was broken when Misaki flinched at the sudden sound of the doorbell. Akihiko growled at the unwelcomed disturbance. He probably wasn't going to ever get used to the way Misaki would become tense and guarded around anyone else but him. And even with him, Misaki was finding it hard to maintain eye contact during conversations. He had it drilled into him for so long that unless you stood perfectly still and silent, you were punished with a violent shock, that he was finding it hard to do anything else.

"Should we ignore it?"

"Baka Usagi! We can't do that! What if it's important?"

"Nothing is important enough to interrupt my refill of Misaki,"

"Baka! You refilled less than ten minutes ago!"

"And you enjoyed it,"

"…"

"Ahah! You don't deny it!"

"Shut up!"

"I love you,"

"…I love you too."

"Now where were we…?" Akihiko began to duck his head towards Misaki's lip but just as the teen was about to lift his chin in response, the doorbell rang again.

"Usagi-san, you should really answer it."

Another ring.

"Really."

And another.

"Usagi-san!"

And another. The rabbit threw his arms up in the air in defeat.

"Fine I'll answer."

"Good, I'll go make tea." As Misaki's wheelchair disappeared behind the wall to the kitchen Akihiko released a world weary sigh before turning and walking towards the door. He didn't blame Misaki for hiding. If he could, he would be upstairs with the teen, snuggled tight under the plush blanket, surrounded by his expansive collection of toys.

He froze though, his hand an inch from the shiny metal knob. A strange feeling of foreboding settled in the pit of his stomach. Vague recollections of opening this door only to find something unpleasant behind it tugged at the corners of his mind, but he couldn't remember clearly what lay beyond. He had been so intoxicated for so long that large chunks of his memory were either just barely there or gone entirely. Not that he wanted to remember much of the time Misaki was missing, but this one seemed important. If only he could remember.

Maybe the feeling was nothing. In all likelihood the one behind the door was just another reporter that had managed to get separated from its flock and found its way here. They were no longer at the hospital. His father's influence on the hospital staff had made it so that he could place personal body guards outside the door in order to keep the pests at bay. But the body guards had left them at the doors to the hospital and it was only a matter of time before the flock was back, ready to buzz around their heads like oversized flies. Yes, that was probably it. He would just show them the infamous Usami scowl and that would be that.

He soon found though that even when opening the door and turning his glare on full force, _this_ grey haired spectacled pest wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon.

"Misaki isn't here right now." Swiftly Akihiko made to close the door only to have his progress impeded by a well-placed shoe.

"Aww, Usami-sensei, don't be like that." Puppy dog eyes gazed at him from behind thin lenses as the heir to the Sumi family fortune posed submissively at his doorstep.

"I can be however I want, now leave before I call the police."

"But Sensei, I just want to see how Misaki is doing. I haven't seen him in so long." The author narrowed his eyes when he saw the blatantly obvious façade of innocence upon the university student's face.

"Get out."

"But Sensei, didn't you miss me?" Sumi was getting precariously close to Akihiko's face now, forcing the man to step back or risk making contact with the younger man's devious lips. But his retreat backwards served only in giving the other man room to slip into the expansive apartment.

"Oh, wow Sensei, it's so clean. Not at all like last time I saw it,"

"What are you talking about brat, you've never been here before."

"Sensei, don't you remember? I was here just a few months ago. Right before you got admitted into the hospital." Akihiko could only stare at him with a look that would suggest the man had begun a spontaneous secretion of green slime onto the already stained carpet. From the corner of his eye, he spotted Misaki peeking curiously out from behind the kitchen wall.

"What nonsense are you spouting?" At the moment nothing seemed to make Misaki's sempai intimidated. Even the towering figure of Akihiko, his arms cross over his broad chest and his feet set apart, as if ready to throw an attack, could not make the intruder back down. This only succeeded to make the dark waves rolling of Akihiko grow in their intensity. Misaki shivered as he felt the air in the pent house grow colder. Still, he did not look away. Just what was his sempai talking about?

"Don't you remember Sensei? I've been coming here very regularly. Ever since Misaki left you," Misaki's single green eye widened in surprise and disbelief. A low growl escaped from behind Akihiko's clenched teeth.

"Lies,"

"Nope, these are truths. You were so drunk you probably just don't remember." The silver tongued man stepped forward until he was bumping his chest against the author's. From there it was only a simple maneuver before he had both his arms draped over the others shoulder. Unlike Misaki, he was almost as tall as Akihiko and thus could easily coo his serpentine words into the other's ear. An angry flush of red had painted itself across the man's cheeks but otherwise he remained as immobile as a statue. "Don't tell me you don't remember Sensei. After all the _fun_ we had?"

In a flash the taller man was moving and before anyone knew what was happening Sumi was being suspended by his neck, his toes dangling a few feet from the floor.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Of course sensei, I-" His words were cut off by the loud bang produced as the speaker's head was rammed into the wall. His glasses clattered onto the floor producing a large crack in one of the lenses. All eyes though were on the university student currently being pinned to the wall by the tremendous pressure being applied to his neck.

"Usagi-san! Let him go! You're going to kill him."

"No! I've killed before. I can do it again!" Sumi was turning an alarming shade of purple but still the pressure did not let up.

"Usagi-san stop it! We can't live like that," Misaki had wheeled himself up to the enraged man and was tugging on his waist with his newly healed arms. "Stop it Usagi-san! He's not worth it!"

Finally Misaki's words seemed to break through the red haze of Akihiko's fury and his hand relaxed, allowing Sumi to slump lifeless to the ground.

"Is he dead? Oh, God! You've killed him!" The older man could only stare blankly at the fallen body while Misaki moved frantically near his legs. Finally his knees bent and he slowly leaned down and placed two fingers on the student's neck before letting them fall back to his side.

"He has a pulse." Misaki instantly stopped his nervous movements and sat calmly in his wheel chair. Akihiko's hand came up and began to calmly stroke his hair. Inside though, he was anything but calm and Misaki could see the slight tremors of his lover's hands. Slowly the brunette brought up a hand of his own and lifted Akihiko's from his hair. A few gentle movements later he had their fingers laced together and he was squeezing Akihiko's digits in a gesture of comfort.

"I understand Usagi-san." Deep violet met eyes of rich forest green. The silver haired man realized he was still breathing heavily.

"Do you really? You're not the one who just tried to kill someone," The teen brought his lover's hand to his cheek and began to rub his skin tenderly against the man's knuckles. A pale lid closed over emerald eye and he sighed.

"I never told you what my dreams have been about," Akihiko looked at him puzzled as to where this was going. He knew his petite lover had been plagued with constant nightmares. Many a night he had woken up to the blood curdling shriek as the dreams of his bedmate had once again taken a turn for the worst. Those nights were spent holding the brunette's tightly as he whispered soothing words of love and devotion to the shivering teen. Yet after each episode Akihiko would still be left in the dark as to what had been the cause of the whole episode.

"No, you haven't," The eyelid fluttered open, revealing deep pain hidden within a large sad eye.

"I'm killing you," Akihiko could only look at him eyes widened in astonishment. Misaki continued. "We're in the office again except you aren't next to me. And the office isn't filled with guards. Well it is…but all of the guards have your face. And I'm shooting them. I'm shooting you! And I can't stop." Misaki was shaking now and Akihiko reached up and pulled him off the chair and into his arms. Tightly Misaki clutched his lover's shirt. His eyes were wide and unseeing as he relived the nightmare in his mind.

"When I held that gun back then and I had massacred all those people I felt powerful. While I held that gun in my hands I was the most powerful person in the room. I had absolute control over who lived and who died. But Usagi-san, that wasn't what was scary. What was scary was the thrill I got from it. We're dangerous now. We've killed people."

"I understand Misaki." There was a pause before Akihiko chose to continue, "You're talking about the awakening that happens after taking a life. All humans have a primal survival instinct of kill or be killed. And now that we've woken it up, we're going to have to be aware of it and work to suppress it."

"Exact-" His words were interrupted by a loud hacking that came from the body lying in front of the couple. In unison they turned their heads to watch as the figure on the ground began to cough violently.

"What's going- What are you two doing?"

"Sumi-sempai." The spectacled man jerked up, making eye contact with the brunette. Immediately Misaki flinched and dropped his gaze to the floor. Akihiko growled.

"Yes Misaki?" Despite having been almost strangled to death just a few minutes before Sumi's smile still managed to be sweet. It reminded Akihiko of the ancients who long ago would lay corpses in coffins filled with honey in order to cover up the decay that was happening within.

"Um… Earlier, you were saying something about being drunk?" Now it was Akihiko's turn to flinch.

"Oh yes, of course you would be wondering about that Misaki. You see, every time I came over here, I would find Sensei here pissed drunk. And you know what they say about intoxication and lack of reservation…"

"What are you saying Sempai…" Misaki let out a nervous chuckle.

"Nothing happened," Both sets of eyes turned to look at the author. Misaki's heart sped up in fear when he heard the low growl of the man's voice. Akihiko wasn't paying attention to his lover though. Dark amethyst eyes were boring into the intruder. Behind the deep violets, a storm was brewing which sent promises of mass destruction if let loose. Misaki placed a warning hand on Akihiko's shoulder as Sumi visibly shrank against the wall.

"You see Misaki…"

"Nothing happened," Akihiko's face clearly spelled out that any denial to this statement would result in serious injury. Sumi gulped nervously.

"Y-yeah that's right. Nothing happened." After his shaking confession, Sumi could not help but think that the smile Usami directed at him showed a little too many teeth.

"Now leave," In a flash the man was on his feet and sprinting as fast as his legs would take him towards the exit. Akihiko did not move, Misaki still clutched tightly in his arms, and together they watched as the lock clicked shut behind the man.

"You were drunk."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"…"

"Usagi-san, answer the question."

"You were gone. When you're not here…" Misaki looked up at him. The author's eyes were dark from the resurfacing memories of the intense pain he had felt during those long months. "I can't do anything without you Misaki. The alcohol, if I got enough of it at least, would make me forget. The pain was still there though." Misaki nodded before replying slowly, his words being chosen with care.

"Usagi-san…If I really were dead…you wouldn't forget me would you?" Immediately he was being held tight in a steel embrace, his face being pressed snugly against the hard planes of his lover's chest.

"I was being an idiot. Over and over again I made the wrong choice. I will never forget you Misaki, so will you forgive me?"

"It would be impossible for me not to forgive you." Against his forehead, Misaki felt his lovers lips curl into a smile.


	17. Chapter 17

**Here it is. Finally. I'm sorry for the delay but seriously, this is like my tenth edit or something. You know what, I'm tired of apologizing. I'm not sorry for the delay. I have been up to my ears in college apps and finals and keeping my grades up plus I'm working even more hours at my jobs. So no, I'm not sorry for the delay. XP**

**Disclaimer: Still not mine.**

"And there you go, Takahashi-san. As good as new!" Misaki sighed and experimentally swung his legs as the nurse disposed of his old casts. It was weird having them off. Somehow his legs felt a little too cold and a little too naked. He shot a glance at the wheelchair sitting innocently next to the white hospital bed where he sat. This was the last they would be seeing of each other and the green-eyed teen couldn't say he would regret their parting.

"Do you want to try walking?" The question was delivered with a warm hand landing softly between his shoulder blades. Misaki looked up at his the man standing beside him.

"Yeah." Three months had robbed him of much of the muscle mass in his legs making him trip and fall on the first of his attempted steps across the grey linoleum floor. He was not scared though, even as he began to tip precariously forward and his face started to hasten in decent towards the floor. Before he could even blink a pair of strong arms had wrapped themselves around his waist from behind in a solid grip.

"Thanks."

"Anytime." A quick kiss was planted on the back of his neck before Akihiko continued in a gentle voice, "How about you hold onto me this time." It was not a question. Both males seemed to have entirely forgotten the nurse who was currently pressing herself against the wall, trying to go unnoticed as her face flush a bright cherry red from the live BL she was witnessing.

Misaki's next attempt resulted in a total of three steps before the tip of his left foot caught behind the heel of his right and he was once more careening towards the ground. Luckily the older man's arm around his waist prevented him from going far.

"This is harder than I thought."

"I'm sure you'll get used to it again. We just need to work a little on building up those leg muscles." The suggestive tone of his voice and the arrogant smirk Akihiko sent his way did not produce the desired blush though. Instead, the teen's face turned a ghastly white as all blood drained out at the thought of sex. Akihiko sighed internally. It seemed he still had a while to wait until he would once against be making his Misaki writhe beneath him. He masked his disappointment though with an encouraging smile. A slight tugging on his sleeve from Misaki told him that the boy wanted to try walking again on his own and with some hesitation he released his lover. He remained tense though as he leaned against the bed, ready to spring forward at the slightest hint of a wobble.

"Come on now, try again."

Five steps later and the brunette was at the hospital room door, panting lightly, but sporting a triumphant smile across a slightly flushed face. Akihiko was still near the bed, his lips forming an equally if not wider smile as he clapped softly at Misaki's accomplishment.

"I did it!"

"I knew you could. It's like riding a bike. You can't just forget how to walk after all." In two swift strides the author was standing next to his lover, both hands settling once more on the teen's slender waist. His lover's frame had filled out once again over the months of rehabilitation and Akihiko could truthfully say he would not be missing the painful way Misaki's hip bones used to jut out into his palm every time he would place his hands on this same spot. Still, the teen was painfully skinny and sometimes the older man couldn't help but feel that just one misplaced touch would break his younger lover into pieces.

"I think this calls for a little celebration. Wouldn't you say?" Akihiko asked and Misaki looked at him suspiciously.

"What are yo-"

"Wait! Before you leave I need Takahashi-kun to fill out his forms!" It seemed the nurse had finally snapped out of her BL induced trance and realized she needed to intervene or risk losing her patient. Akihiko could only glare menacingly at the woman for her interruption. The sudden noise had sent Misaki practically jumping into his arms and he held an arm in front of the teen protectively.

"Just some forms? That's all we need to do before we go?"

"Y-yes. Just a few signatures. If you could please…" The frightened nurse trailed off under the heat of Akihiko's glare, holding out a clipboard and pen in her shaking hands. Akihiko's glare was very reminiscent of the demon Kamijou's, which in its self was a sure sign that it should not to be taken lightly. Briskly, the author grabbed the items and began to speed read through the forms finding them to be nothing but methods of payments along with a few waivers and a pamphlet containing instructions on how to take the different pills Misaki had been assigned. Misaki watched in fascination as the lavender irises moved speedily back and forth as his lover looked everything over.

"Usagi-san, what do they want?"

"Nothing to concern yourself with," Akihiko replied absently and an adorable pout formed across Misaki's face as he slowly lifted himself up on tip toe to see around his lover's wide shoulders.

"Usagi-san! Those are bills! You can't just put your information there!"

"I can and I will,"

"But I'm the one who was injured. I should be the one paying," The silver haired male slowly turned to face his petite boyfriend at the exclamation of this protest.

"Misaki, for me, paying these bills means no difference than going down to the corner store and buying a pack of cigarettes. You on the other hand have no source of income and will thus be letting me pay."

"But I have savings,"

"I refuse to let you suffer anymore because of those bastards. Your savings will stay in your bank where we will hopefully never see it again, because Misaki, I like buying things for you and we shall both pray that the day I can no longer do that never comes. Understood?" Misaki just scowled at the ground, his arms crossed but still leaning heavily on his rabbit.

Akihiko sighed deeply. He hated it when Misaki got mad at him, but he also hated it when he was in some way unable to help his lover, whether it was paying the hospital bills or assisting him in walking across the room. Worst of all, he hated the expression that currently marred his adorable lover's angelic features. Slowly, making sure Misaki knew what he was doing the whole time; he placed a hand beneath the boy's chin and lifted the uke's face to his. One passionate kiss later and Akihiko was back to signing papers, this time with a blushing Misaki hanging from his arm.

Finally the papers were done, the nurse blissfully gone, and they were standing out in front of the hospital for, what Misaki hoped, was the last time. He could see the bright red sports car now and he didn't think he had ever been more eager to get into its expensive leather interior. His legs were practically collapsing under him from exertion. Akihiko had noticed but knew this was a matter of pride for his lover and didn't offer to help, instead silently tensing the muscles in the arm Misaki was using for support.

It was only when they in the car and driving down the street did Misaki realized they weren't driving towards the pent house.

"Um, Usagi-san…where are we going?"

"Can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"It's a surprise," Misaki eyed him carefully, his hands crossed in front of his slim chest.

"Is it a surprise I'm going to like?"

"I certainly hope so."

The next ten minutes of the ride progressed in a silent contentment that could only be achieved between two people who felt nothing but absolute comfort with the other's presence. Misaki spent the ride looking out the window as he watched the pedestrians on the street go about their busy lives. Akihiko had one hand on the steering wheel while the other was holding onto Misaki's in a gentle grip, his thumb rubbing slow calming circles over the back of his beloved's palm. He knew Misaki still wasn't comfortable leaving the sanctuary of the pent house, but he wanted his uke to enjoy this. He didn't know what it would be to Misaki, but to him this day was going to be the wrapping up of loose ends, a closure of sorts. Just like the end of one of his books. There was always something satisfying about writing the last few pages. Beginnings were messy and middles gave him headaches, but endings were satisfying.

"Usagisan…I'm not alive right now am I." Akihiko shot a swift glance towards the boy only to see that he hadn't shifted his position at all and was still staring blankly out the window. For a second he thought he had imagined the question but the sudden tightening of Misaki's grip on his hand told him that that wasn't the case.

"Why would you think that Misaki?"

"Because I mean…I am alive, as in I'm breathing and everything. But I'm not really living at the same time."

"I'm afraid you're going to have to elaborate."

"I'm not really sure I can." There was more silence then, "When people are alive, they have a life. They go out and do things you know. Like going shopping and going to school. They go see friends and listen to loud movies. I can't really do any of that right now. If you weren't there, these last four months I probably wouldn't have stepped one foot out of the apartment. _Or_ already be locked up in a padded room enjoying the confines of my very own strait jacket. Seeing any one who isn't you or seeing them when you aren't around is so terrifying for me that I go into a panic attack and practically asphyxiate myself. The same with loud movies. Heck, if you weren't here I would have probably killed myself a long time ago."

"Don't say that." Now it was Akihito's turn to tighten the grip on their joined hands.

"It's the truth Usagisan. We fought so hard not to die and yet now that it's over we don't even know how to live. How do we do it? How do we move beyond all of this misery?"

Silence fell as Akihiko tried desperately to find an answer. Misaki had turned all the way in his seat and was looking at him desperately, his small hand grasping the elder's in a vice grip as he pleaded with his eye. But Akihiko could only find one answer and though he realized it wasn't what Misaki wanted to hear, he knew it was the only way.

"One step at a time. Just put one foot in front of the other and keep walking forward. Baby steps. It's all we can do right now."

"Is that it?" Akihiko nodded.

"It's what we've been doing. You've improved Misaki. Even though it seems like a small thing, you were able to answer the doorbell yesterday without my being there. And last week you talked to Miyagisan while Takatsukisan and I were in other rooms. Isn't that an improvement?"

"Yeah, I guess." Slowly the teen settled back into his car seat. "But it's still a long ways from my being able to go grocery shopping by myself."

"Misaki, I doubt I will ever let you go grocery shopping by yourself again. Not after what happened last time."

"So you think we can really do it? Return to normal that is. It seems kind of impossible right now. You don't just bring back the dead after all."

"Misaki when you were taken I was left to believe you had died. And despite that you still came back to me. I don't think we'll ever be able to return to how we were, but who's to say that what we have now is not better. Personally I've become very fond of my bold little Misaki."

"I'm not bold."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

Suddenly the brunette teen burst into a fit a giggles, the first time he had done so in more than a year and Akihiko couldn't help but add his own hearty laugh upon hearing it. They were acting no better than children. If any proof was needed that they were moving on, then this was it. Life _was_ moving one and it really _did_ look like it was heading in a positive direction.

"Usagisan…"

"Yes?" Without warning the brunette lifted himself of the seat and delivered a chaste kiss to the older man's cheek.

"I love you."

"I love you too." Before Misaki could realize what was happening Akihito had lifted up their connected hands and was planting a kissing the upon the other's pale knuckles, causing Misaki's already flushed face to redden until the vibrant hue had spread to below his shirt collar. Together they returned to how they were originally save that this time both men were sporting identical smiles, although Akihiko's was bordering more on a smirk than a grin. But that was just Akihiko, and Misaki had no trouble at all seeing the love and tenderness behind the expression. Ten minutes passed before Misaki chose to open his mouth again.

"Usagi-san. Are we heading towards the amusement park?"

"The college student gets an A."

"Oh, be quiet. I'm trying _not_ to think about having to repeat a whole year at university. And what's with that new smile? What are you hiding?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise."

"Never mind then, I can guess." A small squeeze to Misaki's hand was the only response Akihiko gave and once again the next few minutes were filled with silence.

"There are a lot of people at amusement parks."

"There won't be today. It's a week day and it's still early in the morning."

"So it won't be crowded?"

"Just around the middle of the afternoon. But I'll be there so don't worry. I want you to just think of this as a reward. Today's trip will act as a mile stone after all the tiny steps we've taken. I think you're ready. Now all we need is for you to think the same thing."

"I…think I can do this." The grip on Akihiko's hand had once again become a steel vise but the elder did not mind. He knew he was Misaki's strength, and if Misaki felt he had to hold on tightly so as to not be swept away by the flood waters then Akihiko was going to be there as his anchor and nothing in the world would ever be strong enough to lodge him from his position.

In no time at all Akihiko was pulling into a parking lot and together they emerged from the comfortable interior of the car. Immediately after locking the doors, Akihiko was at Misaki's side and grasping his hand once more in his own. He led the brunette towards the amusement park where they had ridden the Ferris wheel not so long ago. Misaki pressed tightly to his lover's side, but otherwise he was relaxed. It really wasn't that crowded and come to think of it, the rides did look a little tempting. The bright color along with the sounds of laughter and music began to make Misaki's heart beat faster but this time in excitement rather than panic.

The silver haired rabbit bent slightly and planted a kiss upon his lover's brow. Misaki was looking at him, a small smile gracing his lips and a light was dancing in his eye. A light that Akihiko realized he had been missing sorely.

"Which one should we go on first?" It was a sentence that signaled a turning point for the couple.

+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+

Throughout the day they went on so many rides and played so many different games that if you asked Misaki later he would tell you that honestly, after a while, he couldn't distinguish one from the other. He would remember vaguely a few, like the one where they had been loaded into a plastic log floating in an artificial river. Really though, the only reason he could recall that one was because, halfway through the ride one particular splash had landed on Akihiko's face. To Misaki's surprise, the author had shaken his head wildly and together they laughed it off. Misaki doubted though that he could ever forget the sight of the man's silver hair sparkling in the sunlight from the hundreds of tiny crystal droplets that had clung to his shining strands, and for a few brief seconds made it so that he seemed to glow in Misaki's vision.

He had ended up leaning too far forward in his quest to inspect in a more intimate nature the miniature stars that clung to his lover's eye lashes, and Akihiko had taken advantage of the proximity of the teen's lips in order to claim them as his own. For a wonderful, solid five minutes. Misaki could only thank the fates that the couple had been seated on the very last seat of the ride and thus didn't have _that_ big of an audience, just anyone who had happened to look up from the ground below.

Misaki's blush had still not faded when they had disembarked from the roller coaster, and faint traces of it lingered as he sat at a table under the shadow of an umbrella and waited for Usagi-san to return with their drinks. He had been the one to tell Akihiko to get the refreshments. There had only been one table left, at the farthest back, crammed into a corner, and he hadn't wanted to lose it just because he desired to cling by the side of his lover all throughout the rides. Also though, inwardly, he wanted to prove to himself what Akihiko had told him in the car. He was able to do this. He was able to go out by himself in society and interact like a normal person. Just the other day, Shinobu had arrived at their apartment all by himself. He had taken the train and walked the busy streets of Tokyo alone. If Shinobu could do it, then why couldn't he?

"_Because Shinobu was only there for two months," _a voice in the back of his mind whispered maliciously. He shook his head. "_No, that's not an excuse_." Two months was a long enough time to experience intimately the nature of events that had gone on within that miniature version of _Hell_.

With the familiar thoughts running amok in his mind, he began to feel a little uncomfortable and within the timespan of a few seconds he had gone deathly pale. It was the first time since waking up in the hospital that he was finally alone, without his rabbit being constantly by his side, easing his nerved-wrack emotions, and the feelings that suddenly consumed him were not pleasant. He suddenly felt naked, _vulnerable_. The wind was too cold and the park too loud. Around him people swarmed, laughing, chattering. He could not look at them. He was afraid that they would be smiling. He hated the smiles of strangers. Somehow they all just looked a little too forced, a little too much like a mask. Who knew what they were really thinking beneath that thin layer that appeared on the surface.

Slowly he brought his knees up to his chest. He was still small and could easily fit the whole of his curled up body onto the seat of the flimsy wire chair, a feat which he did not hesitate in doing. He knew Akihiko wasn't far. He knew if he called for him, his lover would immediately come running. He could even see a glimpse of the man's white hair through the crowd that separated them. Misaki didn't take his eye off it. With a single-minded intensity he stared at the small view he had of his beloved, as if his life depended on the fact that he never turned his eyes away. _And if not his life, then at least his sanity._ This small view was his lifeline and he was not going to give it up.

Suddenly, a great force collided with his chair and he was obliged to practically throw himself across the table in order to stay upright. For a brief second his eye left the strip of silver in the crowd, and that was all it took for him to lose sight of his rabbit. His breath hitched and his heart began to palpitate frantically. Desperately, a singular dilated eye searched the crowd before him, but Akihiko had disappeared without a trace. The teen was about to jump to his feet and run towards the mass of people when a familiar voice cut through his panic.

"Oji-chan! Oji-chan!" It couldn't be. It couldn't. He had told himself never again.

Slowly he turned his head to look down at the small child that had charged full force into his chair.

"Mahiro-chan_?"_

"Yay! Oji-chan!"

"Mahiro-chan! What are you doing here?"

"I came here with Daddy. Mommy's gone right now so Daddy said we could go and play on the rides!" Hearing this, Misaki's eyes jerked up from the toddler that was currently clinging to his jeans and he spotted the black hair and thin spectacles that he knew beyond a doubt belonged to his brother. A small whimper escaped the teen's throat as the figure of the man approached all too quickly.

"Misaki! Fancy meeting you here! It's been forever! Are you here with your girlfriend?" Misaki took in the eager and expectant face of his brother and felt like he was about to either pass out or throw up. The world was spinning, the colors around him blending and meshing together. _Why was his brother acting so cheerful? It was almost as if he had forgotten their confrontation from before. _But most importantly_, where was Usagi-san?!_

Takahiro looked down at his brother in confusion and at the back of his mind a slight annoyance sprang up. _Why didn't he answer? What was the matter with him?_ The boy's pupil had darkened to an almost pitch black and his one good eye was wide and was staring at him as if it had seen a ghost. Takahiro turned to look behind him. Perhaps Misaki had seen one of the men whom he knew from before? He knew the experience had to have been traumatic, although he didn't know in so much detail what had exactly happened. He was still at odds with what Misaki had told him at the hospital. His mind was simply unable to process the tall tale. It couldn't be true after all. Things like that just don't happen to real people. _They just don't_. And Misaki had always been known to overreact and exaggerate the smallest things. _That must be it. Misaki was just overreacting._

But maybe some figure Misaki recognized had appeared and that was the cause of the wild-eyed, terrified look. At that moment though, there wasn't anybody suspicious-looking behind him. Just a class of grade-schoolers, a few mothers with their children, and a clown passing out balloons. The man turned back to his brother and looked at him quizzically. _Why was he looking like that?_ Or maybe he really had brought a girlfriend and he was just too shy to tell his brother. That would explain his silence. _Silly Misaki_, he thought. To think, the boy had actually told him he was _in love _with Usagi-san. Takahiro knew better than that, he scoffed inwardly, denying the confrontation that had happened a few months ago. _Men didn't fall in love with other men_. _It just didn't happen._ _Especially with Usagi-san of all people_. That man was notoriously difficult to get along with. It was a good thing Misaki had finally found himself a girl.

Slowly Misaki opened his mouth to answer his brother's greeting. But only ended up shutting it when he found his throat had closed too tight to allow him to speak. His brother only gave him a funny look before continuing.

"So Misaki, where is this girl? Do I finally get to meet her?" Takahiro paused, but Misaki didn't answer, so he continued. "You shouldn't feel shy Misaki; you can tell your Nii-chan the truth. I knew you weren't really in love with Usagi-san. It was probably just admiration or something like that. It's a common mistake. Nothing to feel embarrassed about." Smiling, Takahiro reached out to pat his brother's hair like he used to when they were younger, only to be stopped by a set of slender, pale fingers that had clamped themselves around his wrist. He shot a look at the owner, eyes wide in confusion.

"Don't touch him."

"Excuse me?"

Akihiko was looking down at the spectacled man in stony silence, directing towards him a look that would make a tiger freeze in its tracks. A second or two passed before he was satisfied that the man was not going to attempt to once again touch his lover and the author released his strangulating grip. Laughing nervously, Takahiro drew his hand to his chest and began to massage his wrist anxiously. Akihiko's interest in the man had finished and all his attention was directed to his boyfriend.

"Misaki? Shhh, Misaki it's alright. I'm here now."

"Usagi-san…" Slowly the brunette seemed to relax in the elder's embrace. Eventually the soothing movement of Akihiko's fingers running through his hair quelled his shaking and his eye returned to its normal emerald hue. As if all the fight had left his slender body, he slumped down into the rickety metal chair. His hands though never relaxed from the tight fists that gripped the author's shirt. Akihiko continued kneeling in front of his lover, paying no mind to the spilled soda currently staining the knees of his expensive slacks.

"Misaki, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone. I should have known better. I'm so sor-"

"It's alright Usagi-san. I'm the one who made you go and then lost sight of you in the crowd. It's my fau-"

"No it's not your fault Misaki. I'm the one to blame. I won't leave you alone again. I promise."

"Thank you Usagi-san."

"Are you alright now?"

"Y-yeah, I guess."

Father and son watched in fascination at the interaction between the two males. Every gesture was in sync, every movement maximized to bring the greatest comfort to the other. The smallest shift in one body resulted in a corresponding shift in the opposite. For every action, there was an equal and opposite reaction. It was like watching two halves of the same person. Takahiro gulped. _Was this really happening to his brother? He… he was in love with a man? _He had to make sure. He opened his mouth, his throat suddenly feeling far too dry to ask the inevitable question, which he had dreaded with all his being, the answer to.

"S-so Misaki, I take it you haven't split up with Usagi-chan, then?" Misaki turned to him, a weary look in his emerald eye.

"No, Nii-chan, I haven't."

"A-and you're going to be together for a while then?" Misaki nodded.

"A very _long_ while Nii-chan."

"Well…um…it was nice seeing you here, Misaki. I've got to go though. It's getting close to Mahiro's bedtime and…well…" The sky was indeed beginning to grow dark. Misaki didn't miss the odd look his brother was giving him before Takahiro looked away awkwardly. The teen sighed inwardly; he knew it must be difficult for his older brother to accept the delicate nature of this revelation.

"Goodbye, Nii-chan." Misaki said, sparing his brother any further need to break the awkward silence between them. Relief flooded Takahiro's face and bending down, Takahiro scooped the toddler up into his arms. With a quick nod, not even a goodbye, his eyes not quite meeting theirs, he turned and disappeared hurriedly into the crowd.

"Usagi-san…"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you think he's starting to get it?"

"Yes Misaki, I dare say he is." The brunette buried his face into the base of the elder's neck and in response Akihiko's arms tightened around his lover's frame. Misaki felt a slight emptiness in his chest. He loved his brother, he was all the family he had and he hoped that one day Takahiro would accept him with all his heart. But it still looked like that day was still a long ways off.

Together, they sat in silence as the movement of the park around them faded into nothing more than a faint buzzing in the background. Gradually Misaki's breath began to fall into a relaxed shallow rhythm and Akihiko knew the teen was had fallen asleep. But he continued to hold him against his chest knowing that they could be there for a while and not caring to have it another way. It had been a big day for his beloved and if the boy wanted to sleep then he would be the last person on earth to stop him from doing so.

The larger man couldn't help but marvel once again at the way his body had ceased to feel complete without its smaller counterpart locked into his embrace. Without Misaki there life had become a great emptiness, nothing more than a bottomless abyss. But the return of his lover had brought with it sensations of warmth and softness. The feeling of gentle childlike hands making their way down his arms and the peculiar mix of scent, both the sweet scent of vanilla like that of a freshly baked cake and the damp scent of earth after a fresh spring rain. Together they flooded his senses in a unique and tantalizing way reminding him of the picnics the two used to go one in the park.

With Misaki also came the sight of lush green and a chocolate brown, like the bark of a young sapling. Akihiko smiled at the analogy. Misaki was exactly like a young tree, infinitely tender, able to break at the slightest impact, but inside he concealed an overwhelming strength, a strength which gave him the ability to grab on with his roots and bend without breaking, only to bounce back upright once the metaphorical storm had passed. And every tree deserved a guardian so thus Akihiko would be Misaki's. He would be the one that stuck around to keep away every predator and weed that dared encroach on his territory. He would be there as the young sapling grew into a tall strong tree with a thick sturdy trunk and wide branches.

+.+.+.+.+.+

Eventually the crowd began to thin and the lights on all the rides flickered to life, illuminating the area in a warm colorful glow. Misaki's eyelid fluttered as he began to come to the end of his journey through the realm of dreams. Slowly he lifted his head from the confines of Akihiko's neck. Groggily he looked up to see the lavender eyes looking down at him with bottomless patience.

"Is it time to go home now?"

"Nope, we still have one more thing to do." The brunette only looked at him quizzically before he found himself being hoisted up into a standing position and pulled toward the tallest light display of them all.

"The Ferris wheel?"

"Yes, I like the Ferris wheel." Akihiko shot the smaller man a knowing smirk and instantly Misaki looked away blushing. He immediately turned back though. He didn't like having his lover out of his sight for too long.

The walk towards the giant structure was slow and leisurely. The world seemed to glow around them, every light seeming to be a tiny star or perhaps the twinkling of a petite fairy. They seemed to be winking at Misaki as he looked at them from under the arm Akihiko had wrapped around his shoulders. It may be the beginning of spring, but the nights were still cold and Misaki welcomed the added warmth currently flooding his body.

The lights were like a cloud of fireflies swarming around the couple and looking up at the lights, Misaki could almost imagine a smile behind every glimmer and flash of gentle radiance. To his surprise he found himself smiling back, his cheeks stretching farther than they had been stretched in months. Even when Akihiko had given the man in front of the Ferris wheel their tickets and the stranger had shot Misaki a suspicious glare at the sight of his patched eye, he had not dropped his smile.

He too felt like he too was glowing inside. Like he was a hot air balloon, made weightless and free by the fire that burned within him. The overwhelming sensation of a great load being suddenly knocked off his shoulder made him straighten his back and relax his perpetually hunched shoulders, allowing him to do anything he wished. He looked across the aisle that separated the two seats and showed the man sitting there his smile, knowing that his face would clearly tell his beloved the magnitude of the joy that was swelling within his soul.

A small gasp escaped the author and before Misaki knew what was happening he was being pounced on by a man who possessed the grace of a snow leopard and the beauty of an archangel.

Lips moved at a furious pace as heavy panting filled the small glass box. Together, the two men engaged their tongues in a fiery dance, sucking, biting, and rubbing against each other in a frenzy neither of them was aware they possessed. Nothing could have predicted the fire that had ignited at their touch. Heat began to grow between them until it consumed their consciousness and all awareness of their surroundings was lost.

Akihiko's hands were on his chest, finding their way beneath his shirt, over the concave of his stomach and up towards his nipples, already erect in anticipation of the man's expert touch. Misaki's back arched as a desperate moan escaped his lips. He wanted this. He wanted this so bad. He could not remember the last time a singular touch had felt so good.

Without realizing what he was doing, he hooked both legs around Akihiko's back and lifted his hips up, rubbing against the bulge that was his lover's need. Gasps escaped their mouths as their lips separated and Akihiko looked deep into the eyes of his beloved.

"Misaki…do…you want this?"

"Yes." The sound was more a cross between a moan and a whimper than anything else, and Akihiko was finding it incredibly difficult to continue his trail of thought.

"We can't do it here. Not on the Ferris wheel." Misaki looked at him in utter disbelief. Usually, it was the smaller man's job to say where they could and could not do it. Akihiko took one look at Misaki's bewildered look and he was at the younger man's neck, sucking and biting his way down to his collarbone.

"I have," Akihiko's tongue darted out to taste the other's glorious flesh, trailing it across porcelain white skin, sending delightful shivers down Misaki's spine, "a hotel room," This time it was a couple of nips to the tender skin at the base of his lover's jaw. He was finding it harder and harder to pause so that he might finish his sentence, "nearby." There he had done it. Now Misaki was his to devour.

Or so it should have been if a park employee, who was looking disgusted at what he saw as he tapped on the plastic window, hadn't so rudely interrupted them. A growl rose from the violet-eyed predator at the untimed interruption as he crouched over the panting figure of his blushing lover. Without hesitation he scooped up his uke and stepped out from the ride, ignoring the rude stares, his steps hurried as he made his way to the car. There was a strain in his pants and he urgently needed to relieve the pressure.

Placing Misaki down in the car seat was almost as physically painful. Every fiber of his being was telling him to hold on to the teen, to press himself against the petite body, and revive the fire that had ignited between them. A green eye, clouded with unmistakable lust, was looking at him, pleading for him to relieve his burning need. Akihiko couldn't stop himself from leaning forward and capturing the boy's sweet lips. The passion was back and they were moving against each other again but Akihiko didn't want it to happen in an old parking lot. Their relationship wasn't like that. Misaki deserved more than to be shagged in some parking lot. So reluctantly he pulled away, producing another whine from his beloved.

"The hotel Misaki. We have to…" His words trailed of. He couldn't remember the rest of his sentence when Misaki was reaching out to him, his cheeks flushed and he glossy kiss-swollen lips parted at the loss they were experiencing. The beautiful sight was too much for his mind.

"Usagi-san…"

"No Misaki, you're going to enjoy this."

"But…"

"Soon Misaki, soon." Quickly he closed the door and practically ran to the other side. His movements were shaky and he had to try several times before he finally managed to put the key in the ignition. His hands were quivering with suppressed need and his knuckles were white on the steering wheel he was gripping. All energy was being directed at getting to the hotel before he finally cracked and took Misaki right there on the side of the road.

It was a wonder he didn't get pulled over for speeding as they raced towards the hotel. The receptionist gave them a funny look but they were too preoccupied with getting towards the elevator. A kind gentleman, his back bent with age, held the door for them as they entered the metal box. Misaki's blush only increased tenfold when the man gave him a knowing wink before the doors slid close, hiding him from view.

They were on each other before the elevator had even started moving. Akihiko had Misaki against the wall and was attacking his lips with a passion he had kept suppressed for far too long. The sounds coming from his lover only urged him on, making him move faster and harder. And Misaki was meeting his craving with an appetite of equal proportions.

A small ping warned them of the opening of the doors, and together they spilled out into the hallway, entangled in each other's limbs. Misaki's legs were once again hooked around his waist and his slender arms wrapped around the larger man's neck. One of Akihiko's hands was gripping the firmness of Misaki's ass as his other fumbled in his pocket for the key to their room. He could see the door before them and he carried Misaki towards it hurriedly. He had to place the uke back on his feet before he made to open the door.

"Usagi-san, what…?" Misaki was looking at him with desire shining plainly from behind his unnaturally bright eye.

"Close your eye Misaki. I want this to be a surprise." A slightly exasperated look was all he got before the teen's lid closed, concealing his longing from the older man. Akihiko bent down and kissed the naked lid before swinging the door to the suite open. Slowly he guided Misaki to the center of the room, swinging the door shut behind them. Finally, looking around and seeing that everything was in place he opened his mouth to speak.

"You can open your eye now Misaki." Slowly the lid drew back and Misaki looked around him in wonder. On every surface, from the intricately carved dresser, to the mahogany table, to the ornate headboard of the bed, even spilling onto the floor, were hundreds of glowing red candles that seemed to be floating in a sea of velvety crimson rose petals. The air was heavy with their intoxicating scent and like the lights at the amusement park the flickering star-like flames of the candles filled the room with warmth unlike anything else. It was as if they had accidentally wandered into a secret fairy grotto.

But despite it all the sight of red made Misaki flinch into Akihiko's side.

"Misaki, it's alright."

"But the red…everything is red…"

"Exactly Misaki. We have to cure you of this fear." Misaki wasn't listening though; his eye was wide and unseeing, as images and memories of the blood-soaked walls from the office filled his mind. He could see them again, their bodies littering the floor, the image as clear as if he were still in the room and the massacre of the office's former occupants having just ended. His ears roared with the pounding of blood and the vestiges of their dying screams. His nostrils flared as they took in the scent of hot metal and ignited gunpowder.

"Usagi-san…" His voice was wavering, uncertain, his breathing coming in short gasps, but not like in elevator. No, the cause of his heart speeding up was not the touch of his lover but the rising panic that threatened to rip out of his throat in a banshee's shriek of terror.

The arms were back around him now, as he was being pulled to Akihiko's broad chest. He could feel the man's calm breath blowing warmly against his ear and with each stroke to his tousled chocolate hair and each loving word being whispered into the petite shell of his ear he began to calm. Eventually his breathing slowed and his heart ceased its frantic palpitation. His shaking stilled and he relaxed into the firm chest of his lover.

"There, it's not so bad now, is it?"

"N-no, I like it. It's-"

"Romantic?"

"You're so cheesy."

"Shall I give you a taste so you can find out just how cheesy I am?" There was silence and then…

"…yes." Akihiko grinned down at his lover who was currently engaged in hiding his fierce blush beneath the author's arm.

"Come to bed, Misaki." Slowly they both stood and taking Misaki's hands he led him towards the creamy white of the sheets currently speckling with the ruby like petals.

+.+.+.+.+.+.+

Moans and gasps filled the room punctuated by unrestrained cries of passion and declarations of love. The green polo Misaki had been wearing was soon left discarder on the floor as the owner's body writhed beneath Akihito's ministrations. Long slender fingers danced over the smaller chest and Misaki realized what was happening.

"All these scars…" The teen turned his head away, averting his eye so that it was staring fixedly at the bed sheets. Akihiko was silent for a moment his fingers tracing the knotted and raised patched of skin that decorated Misaki's chest. They were everywhere, overlapping each other as they curved and twisted a morbid painting across the ivory skin.

"I'm sorry, I know there ugly." A large hand entered Misaki's line of sight and he tensed as it drew close to cup his cheek, as if he expected to be punished for the blemishes to his formerly flawless skin. Slowly the hand applied pressure, forcing him to turn his head and looked at his lover's troubled face. The image wavered as tears bricked the corners of his eyes.

"Perfect."

"Huh?"

"You're perfect." And before he could respond, their lips were once again connected as the larger man molder himself against his younger lover. The kiss didn't last long though because in no time the lips were moving, traveling from one eye to the other licking up tears before migrating down the teens slender swanlike neck, kissing and tasting every scar as it went. The tears hadn't stopped now, and Misaki threw his arms around his boyfriend's shoulders, tangling his fingers into the starlight silver hairs. They were tears of joy though and the older man smiled as he took the pink bud of Misaki's nipple into his mouth, grazing it with his teeth and circling it with his tongue, until the teen was once against arching his back and groaning beneath him.

Even with the authors hand doing similar actions to his other nipple it still wasn't enough. He craved more and if he didn't get it fast he wasn't going to be held responsible for his actions. The rabbit must be a mind reader for no sooner had he thought that when suddenly cold fingers were running down his sides making his muscles twitch and tighten at the almost forgotten contact. It had been so long that Misaki felt he could lose it right now with his jeans still on.

"Usagisan…" His voice was a breathless whine, but it was all he could articulate at the moment, his mind losing itself in a haze of lust and need.

"Oh Misaki, my sweet angel Misaki." The movement of Akihiko's lips against his stomach was driving him wild.

"…Usagisan." His voice was demanding now, holding in it a warning, telling the other to move faster. Akihiko growled in response at the back of his throat before swiftly ridding the uke of the confines of his pants in one swift movement. There was still the cloth of Misaki's boxers in the way though, and Misaki's had had enough. Plus Akihiko still was practically fully dressed.

If the horrible experience had taught the teen anything, it was how to rid a man of his pant in less than a second. In a flash Misaki was on top, his lips working against Akihiko's in a fierce dance while his nimble fingers made quick work of the other's button before moving swiftly onto his zipper. He was surprised he could do it. He was shaking now from the need to feel the other fill him up and logically he should already have passed out from the lack of blood currently flowing to his brain.

In no time the zipper was down though and the silver haired man was kicking of the fabric from around his ankles as he groaned in pleasure at finally being set free. Amethyst met emerald and once again Misaki had to hold himself back from coming right there at the sight of the predatory look in the other's eyes.

"Your shirt…I want…" No quicker had he said then Akihiko was moving his hand swiftly down the rows of buttons revealing creamy expanses of his firm chest as he went. He blinked in surprise when Misaki was suddenly on him, hands exploring and fingers tasting as the expensive silk fell away.

"Misaki." His eyes were almost rolling back in his head at the touch of the small hands sliding down his abdomen towards the core of his heat. "Misaki…I can't…" Strong hands shot out to grasp the others slender wrist bringing them too his face. He paused to kiss both palms before once again looking the other in the face, his ever present smirk softening when he saw the slight hurt and insecurity behind the other's single green eye.

"If you do that, I won't be able to control myself." The hurt disappeared just like that and before he knew it Misaki was returning to him his signature smirk.

"Is that why it's taking you so long? And here I thought you were just getting old." Another growl escaped the back of Akihiko's throat and once again he had Misaki sprawled out beneath him on the bed, his slender frame flushed and eager for the seme's next move. Akihiko leaned down until his breath was tickling the shell of the teen's ear.

"You'll be taking that back."

"Oh yeah?" Misaki's wrists had broken free from the larger man's grasp and were once again trailing their way down the other's sides, finding their way to the waist band of the man's underwear.

"Yeah."

"Make me."

"With pleasure."

That was all it took before both sets of boxers found their way across the room to join the rest of the rumpled cloths and Akihiko was feeling his way up the teens thighs sending trail of fire through the smaller one's body. Misaki couldn't take it anymore and was arching up against his seme as the older man brought himself closer. The result was an explosion of heat as their groins made contact, forcing them to both cry out in shock and pleasure. Still it seemed Akihiko was taking a long time to find the younger's entrance and Misaki was growing impatience as the ache to be filled grew increasingly stronger. But still Usagi seemed to hesitate.

"Usagisan, why aren't you…" all semblance of tolerance finally flew out the window and Misaki forcefully grabbed the others wrist and brought it to his entrance. His jaw fell open and he cried out as the cool fingers made contact with the tight ring of muscles circling his hole.

"Misaki, are you-"

"Fuck me! Just fuck me already."

"As you wish." From some magical spot beneath the sheets Akihito produced a bottle of lube and after spreading it liberally over his fingers he once again brought them to the center of Misaki's ache. The teen cried out again, this time louder as they pushed in, stretching him for the first time in months.

"Misaki, are you alright."

"Hurry! Just hurry!" There was no more hesitation as Akihiko began to both prepare Misaki with one hand while cover himself in lube with the other. A whimper escaped the teen at the loss of the digits only to be replaced with a gasp as a much larger, much firmer appendage took their place. Slowly Akihiko pushed in, stopping half way when he saw the other's face screw up in pain. After a second though Misaki was nodding and he continued until finally he was filling his lover to the sheath where then he stopped, waiting for permission to continue. It came in no time in the form of Misaki's small fingers digging themselves into his back. He began to thrust. And Misaki screamed.

"Usagisan!...Usagisan!...OH GOD!"

"Misaki!" Pleasure coursed through their bodies like waves of electricity making them lose their thoughts in a sea of heat and passion. At first the thrust were clumsy and irregular, it had been more than a year after all, but in less than a minute the knowledge returned causing Akihiko to thrust harder and faster until Misaki's hips were coming up to meet his lover's thrust for thrust. It was not enough though and Misaki's hand left his lover's shoulder so that he might grasp his member, pumping in time as each of Akihiko's thrust sent the teen harder against the mattress. Seeing this Akihito growled and replaced the uke's hand with his own.

Misaki's cries were increasing in volume now, his breathing coming faster, and the finger's he was digging into Akihiko's back pressing harder until the man was sure he would be cleaning up the tiny trails of blood in the morning. But at the moment he could feel it. Misaki was approaching the edge. Like two crystal whose vibrations were growing higher and higher in frequency, they didn't have much longer until it became too much and they shattered.

The walls around Akihiko suddenly clamped down causing him to come with Misaki, his deep roar joining the uke's scream of pleasure before he collapse, maneuvering himself so that he didn't crush Misaki in his post cordial haze.

Together they lay in near silence, two hearts racing, two sets of lungs panting, and two pairs of hands reaching until they had found there partners. Ivory met porcelain as the digits intertwined and gingerly Misaki lifted himself off the bed, only to settle back down on his lover's chest. Still no words were spoken as Akihiko helped the boy arrange himself into a more comfortable position so that in no time Misaki had his face buried into the familiar spot he had made of the area between Akihiko's neck and shoulder. A stray petal had invaded his special place and soft Misaki blew it away, effectively reclaiming his territory.

Lying, spread out across Akihiko's firm chest, legs tangled together and chocolate mixing with star dust as their hair spilled across the creamy sheets, he realized how foolish he had been. For so long he had been terrified that joining with his boyfriend in such a way would only result in more of those terrifying flashbacks, but he had been wrong. So incredibly, wonderfully wrong. Sex, no, _making love_ with his Usagisan was nothing like that. Never had he felt a grip as firm and yet as gentle as Akihiko's and he knew that if he searched all the word he would never find another which fit against his so very rightly.

"Was that ok?" Misaki chuckled at the obvious question.

"Yeah, it was ok." Beneath him the larger man seemed to droop at the mediocre review. Misaki continued though, a playful note adding itself to his voice. "It was so ok that I think I have just had my mind blown, and now I want to do it again…and again, and again!" Misaki had propped himself up with his arms folded in front of him as he looked down at his rabbit. Akihiko knew he had taught the younger well when he saw the smirk spread across Misaki's delectably swollen lips.

"Can't argue with that now can I?"

"You'd better hope you can't."

+.+.+.+.+.+.+

Three o'clock A.M. found Misaki curled up in the arms of his rabbit, gentle breaths stirring the sweat soaked silver hairs. Leisurely, slender fingers traced aimless patterns over the narrow back of the unconscious teen. A soft murmur escaped from between Misaki's reddened lips and slowly dark lashes fluttered open, revealing a sleep-blurred eye, which gazed at the author in a disoriented manner. Akihiko returned the look with one that contained in it an infinite quantity of tenderness and love.

"How are you feeling?" The question produced a wide smile from the brunette, causing Akihiko's breath to hitch in his chest at the beauty the image in front of him had created.

"…Right."

"Right?"

"As in, you know, there's nothing wrong. Now, at this moment, nothing can be more right," A deep chuckle rumbled through the elder's chest and Misaki snuggled closer.

"Should we take a bath?"

"I don't want to move."

"Nope, I think we should take a bath."

"But Usagi-san…"

"Come on. You'll enjoy it."

"I'm enjoying myself right now."

"Well you'll enjoy it more." And with those words Akihiko sat up earning him a quick yelp from Misaki as the blankets fell away and allowed the cool air to rush in. He didn't have long to ponder this because before he knew what was happening he was being scooped up bridal style into Akihiko's arms and being carried off towards an ornate door he assumed led to the bathroom. He threw his arms around his rabbit's neck as Akihiko reached for the door and Misaki's already big eye widened further as he took in the grandiose luxury that was spread out before him.

In the center of the room rested an elegant marble bathtub, so big they could use it as a kid's pool at an elementary. Wisps of steam danced from the surface of the bottle green tinted water upon which floated hundreds more of the scarlet petals. The walls were lined with mirrors gilded with golden swirls and rosettes. From every angle, Misaki could see the painted glass reflecting back his astonished expression. A faint rustling rose up around Akihiko as he made his way towards the giant tub, his feet padding over even more of the scattered roses. The teen's emerald eye was riveted though on the golden fixtures protruding from the side of the water.

"Usagi-san, is that a…" His voice died off as he stared in reverence at the two golden statues.

"Yes it is."

"Lions…" Together they gazed at the shining lion faucets. Suddenly Misaki's head whipped around and before Akihiko knew what was happening, Misaki was pressing his lips hard against the author's. He drew back after a minute, his lips formed into a wide smile and his eye bright with joy.

"I love you Usagisan." Misaki whispered, a blush creeping up on his skin at his sudden declaration. Akihiko returned the smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling in a way that took Misaki's breath away.

"I love you too Misaki," Akihiko replied, his voice husky but his lavender eyes were twinkling with playfulness. _Misaki drew back a little, he knew that look... _andbefore any thoughts could formed themselves completely in his head, Akihiko was lifting him up and with a great splash; followed by a torrent of yelps and laughter a few seconds later; he dropped his boyfriend into the huge tub, their smiles' reflections in the mirrors rippling as a great wave travelled over the edges of the tub and splattered across their rose petal-covered surfaces.

Once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.

-Bill Cosby

-Fin-


End file.
